Shloka 68
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
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:
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 ||
सुना जाता है कि सत्यपराक्रमी श्रीरामचन्द्रजी ने शम्बूक नामक शूद्र का वध करके उस (राज)धर्म के प्रभाव से मरे हुए ब्राह्मण बालक को जीवित कर दिया था। इसी प्रकार राजर्षि श्वेत के बालक का दृष्टान्त भी यहाँ आया है—धर्मनिष्ठ श्वेत ने मरे हुए को फिर से जीवित कर दिया।
जम्बुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.