Shloka 4
राजधर्मः—प्रमादवर्जनं, दण्डनीतिः, दुर्बलरक्षणम्
Royal Dharma: Vigilance, Just Punishment, Protection of the Vulnerable
कर्म शूद्रे कृषिवैंश्ये दण्डनीतिश्न राजनि । ब्रह्मचर्य तपो मन्त्रा: सत्यं चापि द्विजातिषु
karma śūdre kṛṣi-vaiśye daṇḍanītiś ca rājani | brahmacaryaṁ tapo mantrāḥ satyaṁ cāpi dvijātiṣu ||
Utathya dit : «Pour le Śūdra, le domaine juste est le labeur et le service ; pour le Vaiśya, l’agriculture et les moyens d’existence qui s’y rattachent ; pour le roi (le Kṣatriya), la discipline du gouvernement et le châtiment selon la loi et le dharma ; et pour les “deux-fois-nés”, la prééminence de la continence, de l’austérité, des mantras védiques et de la vérité. Ainsi chaque ordre est maintenu par ses devoirs propres, soutenant l’ordre moral de la société».
उतथ्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse outlines varṇa-based dharma: each social order is sustained by its characteristic duties—service/work for Śūdra, agriculture for Vaiśya, lawful governance and punishment for the king/Kṣatriya, and for the twice-born the primacy of disciplined conduct, austerity, Vedic study/recitation, and truthfulness.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and social stability, the sage Utathya speaks as a teacher, summarizing how different roles in society are meant to function ethically so that order (dharma) is maintained after the devastation of war.