Shloka 18

राष्ट्रगुप्ति-संग्रहः

Protection of the Realm and Principles of Revenue & Local Administration

Devanagari script

नोच्छिन्द्यादात्मनो मूलं परेषां चापि तृष्णया

Transliteration

nocchindyād ātmano mūlaṁ pareṣāṁ cāpi tṛṣṇayā

Translation

Karena nafsu serakah, raja jangan memutus akar kesejahteraannya sendiri, dan jangan pula memutus kesejahteraan orang lain. Jangan, karena ketamakan yang berlebihan, menghancurkan penopang hidup rakyat seperti pertanian dan mata pencaharian. Dengan menutup pintu keserakahan, hendaknya ia menjadi penguasa yang bahkan dipandang saja menyenangkan bagi seluruh rakyat; sebab bila seorang raja termasyhur sebagai pemeras yang melampaui batas, seluruh rakyat akan membencinya.

Word by Word

• {'na': 'not', 'ucchindyāt (√chid)': 'should cut off, destroy, uproot', 'ātmanas': 'of oneself

• one’s own', 'mūlam': 'root

• source of stability', 'pareṣām': 'of others

• of the people/subjects', 'ca api': 'and also', 'tṛṣṇayā': 'by thirst/craving

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rājā (king)
• prajā (subjects/people)
• kṛṣi (agriculture; implied by ‘kheti-bāṛī’ in the given context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler must restrain greed and avoid policies that uproot the economic and social foundations of both the kingdom and the people—especially livelihoods like agriculture. Excessive extraction breeds public hatred and undermines the king’s own stability.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on rājadharma (the duties of kings). Here he warns that craving-driven exploitation—such as harming the people’s means of living—destroys the kingdom’s root and turns the populace against the ruler.