Shloka 9
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
योडनाहिताग्नि: शतगुरयज्वा च सहस्रगुः । तयोरपि कुट॒म्बा भ्यामाहरेदविचारयन्
yo 'n-āhitāgniḥ śata-gur-ayajvā ca sahasra-guḥ | tayor api kuṭumbābhyām āhared avicārayan ||
भीष्म ने कहा—जिस वैश्य के पास सौ गौएँ हों और वह अग्निहोत्र न करता हो, तथा जिसके पास हजार गौएँ हों और वह यज्ञ न करता हो—उन दोनों के कुटुम्बों से राजा बिना हिचक धन उठा ले।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wealth and social standing carry obligatory duties (maintaining sacred fires, performing sacrifices). When a householder—especially one prosperous in cattle—neglects these dharmic responsibilities, the king may enforce dharma through fiscal measures, taking wealth from such households as a corrective and as protection of the moral order.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on rājadharma in the Śānti Parva, he gives a concrete rule: two prosperous Vaiśyas are described—one with a hundred cows who does not keep the sacred fires, and one with a thousand cows who does not perform sacrifices. Bhīṣma states that the king should levy/take wealth from both households without hesitation.