Shloka 35
धन-राजधर्म संवादः
Discourse on Wealth and Royal Duty
तं चेन्न यजसे राजन प्राप्तस्त्वं राज्यकिल्बिषम् | येषां राजाश्वमेधेन यजते दक्षिणावता
taṃ cen na yajase rājan prāptas tvaṃ rājyakilbiṣam | yeṣāṃ rājāśvamedhena yajate dakṣiṇāvatā ||
O king, if you do not perform sacrifice, you will incur the sin that clings to sovereignty. For it is for the sake of the subjects and dependents that a king performs the Aśvamedha—rich in prescribed gifts—so that royal power is exercised as a trust, purified by duty and generosity rather than stained by mere possession.
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Royal authority is not morally neutral: if a king enjoys sovereignty without performing the purifying and welfare-oriented duties of rule—symbolized here by yajña and generous dakṣiṇā—he incurs rājya-kilbiṣa, the ethical taint of kingship. Sacrifice functions as a public act of responsibility, redistribution, and self-restraint.
Arjuna addresses a king and warns him that neglecting the prescribed sacrificial obligation will bring the fault associated with kingship. He points to the Aśvamedha, performed with abundant gifts, as an exemplar of how kings traditionally discharge their duty toward those for whose sake they rule.