Shloka 25
Daṇḍotpatti-kathana (Origin and Function of Daṇḍa) — वसुहोम–मान्धातृ संवाद
इसी प्रकार दण्डनीति भी ब्रह्माजीकी कन्या कही गयी है। लक्ष्मी, वृत्ति, सरस्वती तथा जगद्धात्री भी उसीके नाम हैं। इस प्रकार दण्डके बहुत-से रूप हैं ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | evaṃ daṇḍanītir api brahmaṇaḥ kanyā proktā | lakṣmīr vṛttiḥ sarasvatī jagaddhātrī ceti tasyā eva nāmāni | evaṃ daṇḍasya bahurūpāṇi santi | arthānarthau sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ dharmādharmau balābale | daurbhāgyaṃ bhāgadhēyaṃ ca puṇyāpuṇye guṇāguṇī | kāmākāmau ṛtu-māsau dina-rātrau kṣaṇaḥ pramādāpramādau harṣa-krodhau śama-damau daiva-puruṣārthau bandha-mokṣau bhayābhayau hiṃsāhiṃse tapa-yajñau saṃyamaḥ viṣāviṣau ādir antaḥ madhyaṃ kārya-vistāraḥ madaḥ asāvadhānatā darpaḥ dambhaḥ dhairyaṃ nīty-anītī śakty-aśaktī mānaḥ stabdhatā vyayāvyayau vinayaḥ dānaṃ kālākālau satyāsatye jñānaṃ śraddhāśraddhe akarmaṇyatā udyogaḥ lābhahānī jayaparājayau tīkṣṇatā-mṛdutā mṛtyuḥ āgamanāgamanam virodhāvirodhau kartavyākartavye sabalatā-nirbalatā asūyānasūye dharmādharmau lajjā-lajjā sampatti-vipattī sthānaṃ tejaḥ karma pāṇḍityaṃ vākśaktiḥ tattvabodhaś ca—etāni sarvāṇi daṇḍasyaiva nāmāni rūpāṇi ca | kurunandana, evaṃ loke daṇḍasya bahurūpāṇi santi ||
Bhishma said: In this same way, the science of punishment and governance (daṇḍanīti) is also described as a daughter of Brahmā. She is called by the names Lakṣmī (prosperity), Vṛtti (livelihood/means of subsistence), Sarasvatī (learning and eloquence), and Jagaddhātrī (the sustainer of the world). Thus, the ‘rod’ of rule has many forms. It appears as profit and loss, happiness and sorrow, righteousness and unrighteousness, strength and weakness; as misfortune and good fortune, merit and demerit, virtue and vice; as desire and non-desire; as seasons and months, day and night; as a moment; as heedlessness and vigilance; as joy and anger; as restraint and self-control; as fate and human effort; as bondage and liberation; as fear and fearlessness; as violence and non-violence; as austerity and sacrifice; as discipline; as poison and antidote; as beginning, end, and middle; as the expansion of an undertaking; as intoxication, carelessness, pride, hypocrisy, and also steadfastness; as policy and lack of policy; as power and powerlessness; as honor and stubborn silence; as expenditure and non-expenditure; as humility and giving; as timely and untimely action; as truth and falsehood; as knowledge; as faith and lack of faith; as inertia and enterprise; as gain and loss; as victory and defeat; as harshness and gentleness; as death; as coming and going; as opposition and non-opposition; as what ought to be done and what ought not to be done; as capability and incapability; as envy and freedom from envy; as modesty and shamelessness; as prosperity and calamity; as position, brilliance, action, scholarship, power of speech, and insight into reality. O delight of the Kurus, in this way the world contains countless names and manifestations of daṇḍa.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Daṇḍa (the coercive authority of rule) is not merely physical punishment; it is a comprehensive principle that manifests as paired opposites—benefit and harm, virtue and vice, vigilance and negligence, fate and effort, restraint and excess—through which society is regulated. Proper governance recognizes these many forms and applies discipline to sustain order and welfare.
In the Shanti Parva dialogue on kingship and dharma, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira. Here he personifies daṇḍanīti as Brahmā’s daughter and lists numerous dualities to show that the king’s ‘rod’ operates across every sphere of life—ethical, psychological, social, and practical—thereby maintaining the world.