Shloka 35
तं चेन्न यजसे राजन प्राप्तस्त्वं राज्यकिल्बिषम् | येषां राजाश्वमेधेन यजते दक्षिणावता
taṃ cen na yajase rājan prāptas tvaṃ rājyakilbiṣam | yeṣāṃ rājāśvamedhena yajate dakṣiṇāvatā ||
Oh rey, si no realizas el sacrificio, incurrirás en el pecado que se adhiere a la soberanía. Pues por el bien de aquellos—los súbditos y quienes dependen de él—un rey celebra el Aśvamedha, rico en los dones prescritos, para que el poder real se ejerza como un depósito confiado, purificado por el deber y la generosidad, y no manchado por la mera posesión.
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Royal authority is not morally neutral: if a king enjoys sovereignty without performing the purifying and welfare-oriented duties of rule—symbolized here by yajña and generous dakṣiṇā—he incurs rājya-kilbiṣa, the ethical taint of kingship. Sacrifice functions as a public act of responsibility, redistribution, and self-restraint.
Arjuna addresses a king and warns him that neglecting the prescribed sacrificial obligation will bring the fault associated with kingship. He points to the Aśvamedha, performed with abundant gifts, as an exemplar of how kings traditionally discharge their duty toward those for whose sake they rule.