Shloka 37
उतथ्योपदेशः—राजधर्मः, दर्पनिग्रहः, प्रजारक्षणम्
Utathya’s Instruction: Royal Dharma, Restraint of Pride, Protection of Subjects
क्षत्रियके प्रमादसे बड़े-बड़े दोष प्रकट होते हैं। वर्णसंकरोंको जन्म देनेवाले पापकर्मोंकी वृद्धि होती है ।।
kṣatriyake pramādase baṛe-baṛe doṣa prakaṭa hote haiṃ | varṇasaṅkarān janma dene vāle pāpakarmāṇāṃ vṛddhiḥ bhavati || aśīte vidyate śītaṃ śīte śītaṃ na vidyate | avṛṣṭir ativṛṣṭiś ca vyādhiś cāpy āviśet prajāḥ || garmīke mausammeṃ sardī aur sardīke mausammeṃ garmī paṛne lagtī hai | kabhī sūkhā paṛ jātā hai, kabhī adhik varṣā hotī hai tathā prajāmeṃ nānā prakārake rog phail jāte haiṃ ||
Utathya said: When the kṣatriya class becomes negligent, grave faults come to the surface. Sinful acts that beget social mixture (varṇa-saṅkara) increase. Then the order of the seasons is overturned: cold appears where it should not be, and in the cold season cold itself is absent. There is drought and there is excessive rain, and diseases of many kinds spread among the people. Thus the ruler’s moral lapse ripples outward into social disorder and even into the stability of nature and public health.
उतथ्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that a ruler’s heedlessness (pramāda) is not a private failing: it multiplies social sin (pāpa), disrupts social stability (varṇa-saṅkara), and is portrayed as disturbing the natural order—seen in abnormal seasons, droughts/floods, and widespread disease. Good governance is therefore a dharmic duty with cosmic and public consequences.
Utathya is instructing about rājadharma in the Śānti Parva, warning that when the kṣatriya leadership fails in vigilance and righteousness, society deteriorates and calamities arise, affecting both human communities and the rhythms of nature.