Shloka 22
Kośārtha-Rājadharma: Ethical Revenue Collection and Social Regulation (कोशार्थ-राजधर्मः)
मद्यमांसपरस्वानि तथा दारा धनानि च | आहरेद् रागवशगस्तथा शास्त्र प्रदर्शयेत्
madyamāṁsa-parasvāni tathā dārā dhanāni ca | āhared rāga-vaśagas tathā śāstra-pradarśayet ||
Bhīṣma said: A man overpowered by passion seizes intoxicants and meat, and also what belongs to others—women and wealth. Having fallen into such attachment, he not only commits these acts himself but even points to “scriptural” justifications and urges others toward the same wrongdoing—thus deepening his own fall from dharma.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unchecked rāga (passionate craving) drives a person into adharma—stealing others’ wealth, violating others’ marital rights, and indulging in intoxicants and meat—and the fall worsens when one rationalizes these acts by citing śāstra and persuading others to imitate them.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Bhīṣma warns Yudhiṣṭhira about the moral collapse caused by attachment: the addicted person not only commits transgressions but also spreads them by presenting misleading “scriptural” endorsements.