Shloka 21
Vyavahāra-Śuddhi and Rājadharma: Clean Administration, Counsel, and Proportional Punishment
Chapter 86
विनयेच्चापि दुर्वृत्तान् प्रहारैरपि पार्थिव: । सान्त्वेनोपप्रदानेन शिष्टांश्ष परिपालयेत्
vinayec cāpi durvṛttān prahārair api pārthivaḥ | sāntvenopapradānena śiṣṭāṁś ca paripālayet ||
जो अत्यन्त दुराचारी हों, उन्हें दण्ड-प्रहार द्वारा भी अनुशासन में लाने का प्रयत्न राजा करे। और जो शिष्ट व सदाचारी हों, उन्हें मधुर वाणी, आश्वासन तथा सुख-सुविधाओं के दान से पोषित और संरक्षित करे।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must apply differentiated means: restrain the wicked through discipline and punishment when needed, while nurturing the virtuous through respectful conciliation and material support—balancing firmness with benevolence as a principle of rājadharma.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma advises Yudhiṣṭhira on practical statecraft: how a king should deal with different kinds of subjects—correcting wrongdoers and sustaining the well-conducted.