Shloka 51
Daṇḍa as the Foundation of Social Order (दण्डप्रतिष्ठा)
पशूनां वृषणं छित्त्वा ततो भिन्दन्ति मस्तकम् | वहन्ति बहवो भारान् बध्नन्ति दमयन्ति च
paśūnāṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ chittvā tato bhindanti mastakam | vahanti bahavo bhārān badhnanti damayanti ca ||
Arjuna berkata—Banyak orang mula-mula mengebiri ternak (lembu jantan/kerbau), lalu membelah atau melubangi bagian kepala di pangkal tanduk agar tanduknya tidak tumbuh lagi. Sesudah itu mereka dipaksa memikul beban berat, diikat di rumah, dan anak sapi yang masih muda dipasangkan pada pedati dan semacamnya untuk ditundukkan—menghilangkan liarnya dan melatihnya bekerja.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how beings are forcibly controlled through mutilation, restraint, and training, raising an ethical reflection on cruelty and the means used to make others ‘useful.’ In the Shanti Parva’s moral discourse, such examples function to question what is truly dharmic—whether ends like obedience or productivity can justify harmful methods.
Arjuna describes common human practices of taming working cattle: castration, damaging the horns/head, binding them, loading them with burdens, and yoking young animals to carts to break their unruliness and habituate them to labor.