Shloka 24
Kṣātra-Dharma, Daṇḍanīti, and Social Order
Indra–Māndhātṛ Dialogue
यदि हासौ भगवान् नाहनिष्यद् रिपून् सर्वानसुरानप्रमेय: । न ब्राह्मणा न च लोकादिकर्ता नायं धर्मो नादिधर्मो5भविष्यत्
yadi hāsau bhagavān nāhaniṣyad ripūn sarvān asurān aprameyaḥ | na brāhmaṇā na ca lokādikartā nāyaṃ dharmo nādi-dharmo bhaviṣyat ||
Indra dit : «Si ce Seigneur incommensurable n’avait pas abattu tous les Asuras ennemis, alors ni les brahmanes n’auraient été connus, ni Brahmā, le créateur primordial des mondes, ne se serait manifesté. Ce Dharma n’aurait pas subsisté, et l’idée même d’un Dharma primordial n’aurait pu être reconnue.»
इन्द्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma and the institutions that uphold it (such as Brahminical guardianship of sacred knowledge and the creator’s ordered cosmos) depend on divine intervention against forces that threaten cosmic stability; the Lord’s protection is presented as a prerequisite for the visibility and continuity of Dharma.
Indra praises the Lord’s decisive destruction of the Asuras, arguing that without this act the world’s foundational order—Brahmins, the primal creator, and Dharma itself—would not be established or recognizable.