Shloka 31
Adhyāya 64: Dāna-prakāra—Suvarṇa, Pānīya-dāna, Ghṛta-dāna, and Upakaraṇa-dāna
Utility Gifts
क्रोशन्त्यो यस्य वै राष्ट्रादू हयन्ते तरसा स्त्रिय: । क्रोशतां पतिपुत्राणां मृतोड्सौ न च जीवति
krośantyo yasya vai rāṣṭrād ūhayante tarasā striyaḥ | krośatāṃ pati-putrāṇāṃ mṛto 'sau na ca jīvati ||
ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಯಾವ ರಾಜ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಳುತ್ತಾ ಕೂಗುತ್ತಾ ಇರುವ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯರನ್ನು ಬಲವಂತವಾಗಿ ಅಪಹರಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೋ, ಅವರ ಪತಿ-ಪುತ್ರರು ವಿಲಪಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಉಳಿಯುತ್ತಾರೋ—ಅವನು ರಾಜನಲ್ಲ; ಮೃತನೇ. ಉಸಿರಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೂ ನಿಜವಾಗಿ ಬದುಕುವುದಿಲ್ಲ; ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ರಕ್ಷಣೆ ರಾಜಧರ್ಮದ ಪರಮ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s legitimacy rests on protection: if women are abducted by force within his realm and families are left helpless, he has failed rājadharma. Such a ruler is condemned as ‘dead while living’ because his moral purpose as king has collapsed.
Bhīṣma, instructing on duties of kingship in the Anuśāsana Parva, gives a sharp ethical criterion: a kingdom where women are seized and their husbands and sons can only cry out reflects the ruler’s inability or unwillingness to protect; therefore he is unworthy of the title ‘king’.