Shloka 68

Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154

Devanagari script

सुना जाता है कि सत्यपराक्रमी श्रीरामचन्द्रजीसे शम्बूक नामक शूद्रके मारे जानेपर उस धर्मके प्रभावसे एक मरा हुआ ब्राह्मण बालक जीवित हो उठा था ।॥। तथा श्वेतस्य राजर्षे्बालो दृष्टान्तमागत: । श्वेतेन धर्मनिष्तेन मृत: संजीवित: पुन:

Transliteration

śrūyate hi satya-parākramaḥ śrī-rāmacandraḥ śambūka-nāmānaṃ śūdraṃ hatvā tasya dharmasya prabhāvena mṛtaḥ brāhmaṇa-bālakaḥ punar jīvitam āpadyata | tathā śvetasya rājarṣeḥ bālo dṛṣṭāntam āgataḥ | śvetena dharma-niṣṭhena mṛtaḥ saṃjīvitaḥ punaḥ ||

Translation

સાંભળવામાં આવે છે કે સત્યપરાક્રમી શ્રીરામચંદ્રજીએ શંબૂક નામના શૂદ્રનો વધ કરીને તે (રાજ)ધર્મના પ્રભાવથી મરેલા બ્રાહ્મણ બાલકને જીવિત કર્યો હતો. તેમ જ રાજર્ષિ શ્વેતના બાલકનો દૃષ્ટાંત પણ અહીં આવ્યો છે—ધર્મનિષ્ઠ શ્વેતે મરેલાને ફરી જીવિત કર્યો.

Word by Word

तथाthus; likewise

श्वेतस्यof Śveta

राजर्षेःof the royal sage

बालःthe boy/child

दृष्टान्तम्example; illustration

आगतःhas come; has been presented

श्वेतेनby Śveta

धर्मनिष्ठेनby one steadfast in dharma

मृतःdead

संजीवितःrevived; brought back to life

पुनःagain

Speaker

जम्बुक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Rāmacandra (Rāma)

Śambūka

a Brahmin boy (brāhmaṇa-bālaka)

Rājarṣi Śveta

Śveta’s child

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse argues that a ruler’s enforcement of dharma is believed to have tangible, world-ordering effects: when social and ascetic norms are upheld (as tradition claims in the Rāma–Śambūka episode), disorder is removed and even extreme misfortune—symbolized by a child’s death—can be reversed. It uses precedent to support a claim about the efficacy of dharma and the king’s responsibility for societal balance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Jambuka cites two illustrative traditions: (1) the well-known report that after Rāma killed the Śūdra Śambūka, a dead Brahmin boy revived due to the power of that act of dharma; and (2) a parallel example involving the royal sage Śveta, who—being devoted to dharma—is said to have revived a dead child. These are presented as supporting examples (dṛṣṭānta) in an ongoing ethical discussion.