Shloka 33
राजधर्मप्रश्नः — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry into Rājadharma (Śānti-parva 56)
राजद्विषप्टे च विप्रस्य विषयान्ते विसर्जनम् | विधीयते न शारीरं दण्डमेषां कदाचन
rājadvīṣa-pāṭe ca viprasya viṣayānte visarjanam | vidhīyate na śārīraṃ daṇḍam eṣāṃ kadācana prajānātha |
ರಾಜನಿಗೆ ದ್ವೇಷ ಮಾಡಿದ ದೋಷವಿದ್ದರೂ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣನಿಗೆ ರಾಜ್ಯಸೀಮೆಯ ಅಂಚಿಗೆ ನಿಷ್ಕಾಸನವೇ ವಿಧಿ. ಓ ಪ್ರಜಾನಾಥ! ಇವರಿಗೆ ಎಂದಿಗೂ ದೇಹದಂಡ ವಿಧಿಸಬಾರದು; ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಹತ್ಯೆ, ಗುರುಪತ್ನೀಗಮನ, ಭ್ರೂಣಹತ್ಯೆ, ರಾಜದ್ರೋಹ ಇಂತಹ ಮಹಾಪಾತಕಗಳಿದ್ದರೂ ದಯೆಯೊಡನೆ ದೇಶನಿರ್ವಾಸವೇ ರಾಜಧರ್ಮವೆಂದು ಹೇಳಲಾಗಿದೆ.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Royal punishment must be restrained by dharma: even in cases like hostility to the king, a Brahmin is to be punished by banishment to the frontier, not by bodily harm, reflecting a norm of protecting the Brahmin’s person and emphasizing mercy within justice.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rāja-dharma, Bhishma advises the king on legal penalties. Here he specifies that for a Brahmin accused of grave political offence (hostility/treason), the ordained response is expulsion from the kingdom rather than corporal punishment.