Shloka 24
Adhyaya 30 — Madālasā’s Instruction on Household Duties and Naimittika–Śrāddha Rites
सर्वेषामेव वर्णानां बान्धवो नृपतिर्यतः ।
एतास्ते कथिता वत्स ! नित्यनैमित्तकास्तथा ॥
sarveṣām eva varṇānāṃ bāndhavo nṛpatir yataḥ | etās te kathitā vatsa! nityanaimittakās tathā ||
For the king is, in truth, a kinsman to all the varṇas. Thus, dear child, these (rites) have been explained to you as the nitya and the naimittika duties—obligatory and occasion-based.
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FAQs
Governance is framed as familial responsibility: the king’s role is protective and substitutive, ensuring dharmic continuity for all subjects, including ritual obligations that maintain social and ancestral order.
Not a direct pañcalakṣaṇa unit; it is prescriptive dharma instruction embedded in the Purāṇic narrative framework.
The ‘king as kinsman’ points to an integral view of society: the individual’s ritual debt (ṛṇa) is upheld by the collective dharmic structure when private capacity is absent.