Shloka 35
धन-राजधर्म संवादः
Discourse on Wealth and Royal Duty
तं चेन्न यजसे राजन प्राप्तस्त्वं राज्यकिल्बिषम् | येषां राजाश्वमेधेन यजते दक्षिणावता
taṃ cen na yajase rājan prāptas tvaṃ rājyakilbiṣam | yeṣāṃ rājāśvamedhena yajate dakṣiṇāvatā ||
Ô roi, si tu n’accomplis pas le sacrifice, tu encourras la faute qui s’attache à la souveraineté. Car c’est pour le bien de ceux-là—les sujets et les dépendants—qu’un roi célèbre l’Aśvamedha, riche des dons rituels prescrits, afin que la puissance royale s’exerce comme un dépôt confié, purifié par le devoir et la largesse, et non souillé par la simple possession.
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.