Shloka 35
अथाहु: सर्वमेवैति भूयो<5र्धमिति निश्चय: । चतुर्थ मतमस्माकं मनो: श्रुत्वानुशासनम्,कुछ लोगोंका कहना है कि सारा पाप राजाको ही लगता है। दूसरे लोगोंका यह निश्चय है कि राजा आधे पापका भागी होता है। परंतु मनुका उपदेश सुनकर हमारा मत यही है कि राजाको उस पापका एक चतुर्थाश ही प्राप्त होता है
atha āhuḥ sarvam evaiti bhūyo 'rdham iti niścayaḥ | caturthaṁ matam asmākaṁ manoḥ śrutvānūśāsanam ||
ビーシュマは言った。「ある者は、罪の重荷はすべて王に帰すると言う。ある者は、王は半分を超えて負うと断ずる。だが、マヌの教誡を聞いたうえでの我らの結論はこうだ——王が受け取るのは、その罪の四分の一にすぎない。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma reports differing views on how much sin a king incurs for wrongdoing in his realm, and endorses Manu’s rule: the king bears a defined, limited share—one quarter—rather than the whole or more than half. The point is to frame royal responsibility as real but proportionate, distributed among other responsible agents as well.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (especially duties and accountability of rulers), he cites competing opinions and then appeals to Manu as authoritative. He states his settled conclusion based on Manu’s ordinance regarding the king’s fractional share in the sin arising from subjects’ misdeeds or governance failures.