Shloka 17
मोक्षोपाय-निर्णयः
Determination of the Means to Liberation
हुमत्सेन उवाच यत्र यत्रैव शक््येरन् संयन्तुं समये प्रजा: । स तावान प्रोच्यते धर्मो यावन्न प्रतिलड्घ्यते
Humatsena uvāca | yatra yatraiva śakyeran saṁyantuṁ samaye prajāḥ | sa tāvān procyate dharmo yāvanna pratilaghyate ||
Humatsena dit : «Mon fils, partout et chaque fois qu’il est possible de tenir le peuple contenu dans les limites du juste ordre, cette mesure même est appelée dharma. Une telle disposition ne doit être maintenue que tant qu’elle ne transgresse pas le dharma lui-même.»
हुमत्सेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Regulation of society is itself dharma only to the extent that it stays within dharma’s limits; governance must not become a pretext for violating righteousness.
Humatsena instructs his son on statecraft and moral governance, defining dharma pragmatically as the permissible scope of social restraint that does not cross into adharma.