Shloka 160
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
यश्न राजा महोत्साह: क्षत्रधर्मे रतो भवेत् | स तुष्येद् दशभागेन ततस्त्वन्यो दशावरै:
yaśn rājā mahotsāhaḥ kṣatradharme rato bhavet | sa tuṣyed daśabhāgena tatas tv anyo daśāvaraiḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「大いなる気概を備え、クシャトリヤの法（ダルマ）に励む王は、租税として民の収入の十分の一を取るにとどめ、これに満足すべきである。これに及ばぬ凡庸な君主は、十分の一より少なくとも足れりとすべきだ。教えの要は課税の節度にある。王権はダルマを護り支えるときにのみ正当であり、ゆえに民を度を越えて苦しめてはならぬ。」
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must practice restraint in taxation: even a capable, dharma-abiding king should be content with a tenth share, and lesser rulers should take still less. Legitimate kingship is tied to protection and dharma, not extraction.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rajadharma, Bhishma advises Yudhishthira on proper governance, specifically setting a moral limit on how much revenue a king should take from his subjects.