Shloka 18
उतथ्योपदेशः—राजधर्मः, दर्पनिग्रहः, प्रजारक्षणम्
Utathya’s Instruction: Royal Dharma, Restraint of Pride, Protection of Subjects
धनात् स्रवति धर्मो हि धारणाद् वेति निश्चय: । अकार्याणां मनुष्येन्द्र स सीमान्तकर: स्मृत:
dhanāt sravati dharmo hi dhāraṇād veti niścayaḥ | akāryāṇāṁ manuṣyendra sa sīmāntakaraḥ smṛtaḥ ||
Utathya said: “Dharma, indeed, flows from wealth—this is the settled conclusion. And because it upholds and sustains all, it is certainly called ‘dharma’. O best of men, that dharma is remembered as the maker of boundaries, for it brings an end to what ought not to be done (sinful, forbidden acts).”
उतथ्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is presented as something that requires material means to be expressed in action (charity, protection, sacrifice, governance), and as the sustaining principle that sets moral boundaries—limiting and ending forbidden conduct.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous living and kingship, the sage Utathya addresses a king (‘best of men’) and explains how wealth, when rightly used, becomes a vehicle for dharma, and how dharma functions to restrain wrongdoing by defining clear limits.