Shloka 83
Nāradasya Rājadharma-praśnāḥ
Nārada’s Examination of Royal Ethics
कच्चिद् बलेनानुगता: समानि विषमाणि च | पुराणि चौरान् निध्नन्तश्नरन्ति विषये तव,क्या तुम्हारे राज्यमें कुछ रक्षक पुरुष सेना साथ लेकर चोर-डाकुओंका दमन करते हुए सुगम एवं दुर्गम नगरोंमें विचरते रहते हैं?
kaccid balenānugatāḥ samāni viṣamāṇi ca | purāṇi caurān nidhnantaś caranti viṣaye tava ||
ナーラダは言った。「そなたの守護者たちは武装した兵を伴い、国中を—行きやすき地も険しき地も—巡って、古くから巣くう盗賊・強盗の徒を探し出して討ち、民が安らかに暮らせるようにしているか。」
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s dharma includes active protection of the realm: maintaining security through organized patrols, suppressing entrenched criminality, and ensuring safe movement and livelihood for subjects across all regions, easy and difficult alike.
Nārada continues a sequence of probing questions to assess the quality of royal administration, asking whether the king’s guards, supported by military force, regularly patrol the kingdom and curb thieves and robbers throughout the territory.