Shloka 3
Adhyāya 90 — Protection of Livelihoods, Brahmanical Subsistence Norms, and Royal Oversight (राष्ट्रवृत्ति-राष्ट्रगुप्ति-उपदेशः)
विप्रश्नेत् त्यागमातिष्ठेदात्मार्थ वृत्तिकर्शित: । परिकल्प्यास्य वृत्ति: स्थात् सदारस्य नराधिप
bhīṣma uvāca | vipraḥ śneta tyāgam ātiṣṭhed ātmārtha-vṛtti-karśitaḥ | parikalpyāsya vṛttiḥ sthāt sadāraś ca narādhipa, rājan |
भीष्म बोले—हे नराधिप! यदि कोई ब्राह्मण अपनी जीविका का प्रबन्ध न होने से क्षीण होकर राज्य छोड़कर अन्यत्र जाने लगे, तो राजा का कर्तव्य है कि परिवार सहित उसके निर्वाह की व्यवस्था करे। इसी प्रकार राजा विद्या और विद्वानों की रक्षा करके धर्म की प्रतिष्ठा करता है।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king must ensure that a brahmin who is weakened by lack of livelihood is provided for—along with his household—so that he need not abandon the kingdom; this is presented as a concrete obligation of rajadharma.
In Bhishma’s instruction to the king during the Shanti Parva, he describes a scenario where a brahmin, unable to sustain himself, prepares to leave the realm; Bhishma states that the ruler should intervene by arranging stable support for the brahmin and his family.