Shloka 13
Brāhmaṇa-bheda-nirṇaya and Rājā’s Regulatory Duties (ब्राह्मणभेदनिर्णयः)
अवृत्त्या यो भवेत् स्तेनो वेदवित् स्स्नातकस्तथा । राजन स राज्ञा भर्तव्य इति वेदविदो विदु:
avṛttyā yo bhavet steno vedavit snātakas tathā | rājan sa rājñā bhartavya iti vedavido viduḥ ||
Bhishma said: “O king, if through lack of livelihood a learned man of the Veda—even a duly graduated snātaka—falls into theft, then the king ought to maintain him. Such is the considered judgment of those who know the Veda.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Poverty-driven wrongdoing by a Veda-learned person is treated as a failure of social support; the king’s dharma is to prevent such moral collapse by providing maintenance, emphasizing welfare as a pillar of rajadharma.
In the Shanti Parva discourse on kingship and dharma, Bhishma instructs the king that when a Veda-knower or snātaka resorts to theft due to lack of livelihood, the proper royal response is not merely punishment but provision—ensuring sustenance and restoring dharmic order.