Shloka 8
Adhyaya 18 — Arjuna Declines the Throne; Garga Directs Him to Dattatreya; The Gods Defeat the Daityas through Dattatreya’s Vision and the Movement of Lakshmi
अरक्षंश्चौरतश्चौर्यं तदेनो नृपतेर्भवेत् ।
तस्माद्यदि तपस्तप्त्वा प्राप्तो योगित्वमीप्सितम् ॥
arakṣaṃś caurataś cauryaṃ tad eno nṛpater bhavet | tasmād yadi tapas taptvā prāpto yogitvam īpsitam ||
王が盗賊から臣民を守れないなら、盗賊の行う盗みは王の罪となる。ゆえに、汝が苦行（タパス）を修し、望むヨーガの境地に到ったなら、そのとおりに行え――守護を立て、ダルマに則って統治せよ。
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FAQs
Governance is a moral trust: omission (failure to protect) is itself culpable. The verse frames kingship as dharma-based stewardship, where social harms (like theft) accrue as the ruler’s demerit if he neglects protection.
Primarily Dharma/ācāra instruction within narrative (not a direct sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita unit). It supports vaṃśānucarita-style royal conduct themes often embedded in dynastic/narrative portions.
The ‘thief’ can be read as disorder (adharma) and the ‘king’ as the governing intellect: if discernment fails to guard the senses and society, the resulting transgressions are owned by that governing principle.