Srimad Bhagavatam — Navama Skandha, Shloka 5
Mahārāja Sagara, Kapila Muni, and the Deliverance of the Sixty Thousand Sons
यस्तालजङ्घान् यवनाञ्छकान् हैहयबर्बरान् । नावधीद् गुरुवाक्येन चक्रे विकृतवेषिण: ॥ ५ ॥ मुण्डाञ्छ्मश्रुधरान् कांश्चिन्मुक्तकेशार्धमुण्डितान् । अनन्तर्वासस: कांश्चिदबहिर्वाससोऽपरान् ॥ ६ ॥
yas tālajaṅghān yavanāñ chakān haihaya-barbarān nāvadhīd guru-vākyena cakre vikṛta-veṣiṇaḥ
霊的師オールヴァ（Aurva）の命に従い、サガラ王はタラジャンガ、ヤヴァナ、シャカ、ハイハヤ、バルバラといった粗野な民を殺さなかった。代わりに彼らに異様な装いを定めた――ある者は剃髪して口髭を残し、ある者は髪を解き、ある者は半分だけ剃り、ある者は下衣なし、またある者は外衣なし。こうして部族は服装で区別されたが、サガラは彼らを滅ぼさなかった。
FAQs
This verse highlights that even in matters of punishment, one should follow the guru’s instruction; the king refrained from killing and instead imposed a corrective, non-lethal consequence.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī narrates this history to King Parīkṣit while describing events connected with the Sagara dynasty and related lineages.
Discipline guided by higher wisdom should be restrained and purposeful—avoid unnecessary harm, and apply consequences that reform rather than merely retaliate.