Shloka 31
राजधर्मप्रश्नः — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry into Rājadharma (Śānti-parva 56)
एवं चैव नरश्रेष्ठ रक्ष्या एव द्विजातय: । सापराधानपि हि तान् विषयान्ते समुत्सूजेत्
evaṃ caiva naraśreṣṭha rakṣyā eva dvijātayaḥ | sāparādhān api hi tān viṣayānte samutsṛjet |
Bhīṣma dit : «Même ainsi, ô meilleur des hommes, les deux-fois-nés (dvija) doivent toujours être protégés. Quand bien même ils auraient commis des fautes, on ne doit pas leur infliger la peine de mort ; qu’on les expulse plutôt au-delà des frontières du royaume et qu’on les laisse aller.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king’s punishment must be restrained by dharma: even when the twice-born commit offenses, they are not to be executed; the appropriate penalty is expulsion beyond the kingdom’s borders, maintaining protection while still upholding order.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma advises the ruler on how to deal with offenders among the twice-born, prescribing exile at the frontier rather than capital punishment.