Shloka 49

Daṇḍa as the Foundation of Social Order (दण्डप्रतिष्ठा)

Devanagari script

लोकयात्रार्थमेवेह धर्मप्रवचनं कृतम्‌ । अहिंसासाधुहिंसेति श्रेयान्‌ धर्मपरिग्रह:

Transliteration

lokayātrārtham eveha dharmapravacanaṁ kṛtam | ahiṁsā sādhuhīṁseti śreyān dharmaparigrahaḥ ||

Translation

અર્જુને કહ્યું—લોકયાત્રાનો નિર્વાહ થાય એ માટે જ અહીં ધર્મનું પ્રવચન કરવામાં આવ્યું છે. જ્યારે ‘સર્વથા અહિંસા’ કે ‘દુષ્ટ પર હિંસા’ એવો સંદેહ ઊભો થાય, ત્યારે જે કર્મ ધર્મની રક્ષા કરે તે જ શ્રેષ્ઠ માનવું.

Word by Word

• {'lokayātrā': 'the conduct/continuance of worldly life

• social order and practical living', 'artham': 'for the sake of

• purpose', 'eva': 'indeed

• precisely', 'iha': 'here

• in this world/teaching context', 'dharma': 'righteous order

• moral law', 'pravacanam': 'instruction

• teaching', 'kṛtam': 'has been made/done

• has been set forth', 'ahiṁsā': 'non-violence

• non-injury', 'sādhu-hīṁsā': 'violence against the wicked (sādhu here in the sense of ‘proper/justified’ or ‘directed at the wrongdoer’)', 'iti': 'thus

• in the form of a stated alternative', 'śreyān': 'better

• preferable', 'dharma-parigrahaḥ': 'adoption/acceptance of dharma

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is taught for the practical maintenance of life and society; when absolute non-violence conflicts with protecting dharma, one should choose the course that preserves dharma—even if it involves force against wrongdoers.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna raises an ethical dilemma within the Shanti Parva discussion: how to reconcile the ideal of ahiṁsā with the need to restrain or punish the wicked, concluding that dharma’s preservation is the guiding criterion.