Shloka 31
Adhyāya 64: Dāna-prakāra—Suvarṇa, Pānīya-dāna, Ghṛta-dāna, and Upakaraṇa-dāna
Utility Gifts
क्रोशन्त्यो यस्य वै राष्ट्रादू हयन्ते तरसा स्त्रिय: । क्रोशतां पतिपुत्राणां मृतोड्सौ न च जीवति
krośantyo yasya vai rāṣṭrād ūhayante tarasā striyaḥ | krośatāṃ pati-putrāṇāṃ mṛto 'sau na ca jīvati ||
भीष्म बोले—जिसके राज्य से रोती-चिल्लाती स्त्रियाँ बलपूर्वक उठा ली जाती हों और उनके पति-पुत्र विलाप करते रह जाते हों, वह राजा नहीं, मुर्दा है। वह साँस लेता हुआ भी वास्तव में जीवित नहीं, क्योंकि उसने रक्षण-धर्म का प्रधान कर्तव्य छोड़ दिया है।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s legitimacy rests on protection: if women are abducted by force within his realm and families are left helpless, he has failed rājadharma. Such a ruler is condemned as ‘dead while living’ because his moral purpose as king has collapsed.
Bhīṣma, instructing on duties of kingship in the Anuśāsana Parva, gives a sharp ethical criterion: a kingdom where women are seized and their husbands and sons can only cry out reflects the ruler’s inability or unwillingness to protect; therefore he is unworthy of the title ‘king’.