Shloka 15
अध्याय ७२ — राजधर्मः: प्रजारक्षण, कर-नीति, दण्ड-नीति, अमात्य-नियोजन
Chapter 72 — Royal Duty: protection of subjects, taxation, punishment, and appointments
अर्थमूलो5पि हिंसां च कुरुते स्वयमात्मन: । करैरशास्त्रदृष्टेर्हि मोहात् सम्पीडयन् प्रजा:
arthamūlo 'pi hiṃsāṃ ca kurute svayam ātmanaḥ | karair aśāstradṛṣṭer hi mohāt sampīḍayan prajāḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Quand bien même il serait tout entier tourné vers la quête de richesse, le roi qui—par égarement—opprime ses sujets en levant des impôts contraires aux śāstras exerce une violence contre lui-même ; de ses propres mains il prépare sa ruine.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Taxation must be aligned with śāstra and dharma; when a ruler, driven by greed or delusion, imposes unlawful/excessive taxes and oppresses the people, that oppression rebounds upon him as self-destruction.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma advises Yudhiṣṭhira about righteous kingship, warning that a king who burdens his subjects with unscriptural taxes harms his own welfare and ultimately ruins himself.