Shloka 7
अर्जुनस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति क्षात्रधर्मोपदेशः | Arjuna’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira on Kṣatra-Dharma
न त्यागो न पुनर्यज्ञो न तपो मनुजेश्वर । क्षत्रियस्यथ विधीयन्ते न परस्वोपजीवनम्,“नरेश्वर! क्षत्रियके लिये त्याग, यज्ञ, तप और दूसरेके धनसे जीवन-निर्वाहका विधान नहीं है
na tyāgo na punaryajño na tapo manujeśvara | kṣatriyasyātha vidhīyante na parasvopajīvanam ||
Dijo Vaiśampāyana: «Oh señor de los hombres, para un kṣatriya no está prescrito vivir por la renuncia, por los ritos sacrificiales ni por la austeridad; tampoco se le ordena sostenerse dependiendo de la riqueza ajena. Su curso propio es mantener su deber y su sustento conforme al modo del kṣatriya».
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes varṇa-appropriate duty: a kṣatriya’s prescribed path is not primarily renunciation, ritualism, or asceticism, nor dependence on others’ wealth, but sustaining himself through his own rightful means while upholding rāja-dharma.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma after the war, Vaiśampāyana reports a teaching addressed to a king, clarifying what is and is not enjoined for a kṣatriya as part of guidance on proper conduct and livelihood.