Shloka 9

Kośārtha-Rājadharma: Ethical Revenue Collection and Social Regulation (कोशार्थ-राजधर्मः)

Devanagari script

सकृत्पाशावकीण्णस्ति न भविष्यन्ति दुर्दमा: । उचितेनैव भोक्तव्यास्ते भविष्यन्ति यत्नतः

Transliteration

sakṛt pāśāvakīrṇās tu na bhaviṣyanti durdamāḥ | ucitenaiva bhoktavyās te bhaviṣyanti yatnataḥ ||

Translation

यदि उन्हें एक साथ रस्सी में फँसाकर भारी बोझ लाद दिया जाए, तो जो दुर्दम हैं वे वश में नहीं होंगे। इसलिए उचित रीति से, प्रयत्नपूर्वक, एक-एक को साधकर ही उन्हें भार-वहन के योग्य बनाना चाहिए; तब वे समय आने पर पूरा भार उठाने में समर्थ हो जाते हैं।

Word by Word

• {'sakṛt': 'all at once

• in a single attempt', 'pāśa': 'noose

• restraint', 'avakīrṇa': 'thrown over

• entangled/covered', 'na bhaviṣyanti': 'will not become

• will not prove to be', 'durdamāḥ': 'hard to tame

• ungovernable', 'ucitena': 'by what is proper/appropriate

• in due measure', 'eva': 'indeed

• precisely', 'bhoktavyāḥ': 'to be borne/endured

• to be managed/handled (as a duty)', 'te': 'they', 'bhaviṣyanti': 'will become', 'yatnataḥ': 'with effort

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Discipline and capacity are developed progressively: forcing a heavy restraint or burden all at once makes the unruly harder to manage, whereas appropriate, step-by-step training with sustained effort makes them capable of bearing responsibility.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct and practical policy, Bhīṣma advises the listener through a metaphor of restraining and loading: one should not attempt to subdue or burden difficult subjects/agents in a single harsh act, but should guide them gradually until they become dependable.