Shloka 77
Adhyāya 31: Rājasūya-samāgama — The Gathering of Kings and the Ordering of Hospitality
एवं निर्जित्य तरसा सान्त्वेन विजयेन च । करदान् पार्थिवान् कृत्वा प्रत्यागच्छदरिंदम:,इस प्रकार बलपूर्वक जीतकर तथा सामनीतिसे समझा-बुझाकर सब राजाओंको अपने अधीन करके उन्हें करद बनाकर शत्रुदमन माद्रीनन्दन इन्द्रप्रस्थमें वापस आ गये
evaṁ nirjitya tarasā sāntvena vijayena ca | karadān pārthivān kṛtvā pratyāgacchad ariṁdamaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Having thus subdued them—some by sheer force and others through conciliation and the prestige of victory—he made the kings tributary and returned to Indraprastha, that tamer of foes. The verse highlights a pragmatic statecraft in which conquest is tempered by pacification, aiming at stable overlordship through tribute rather than needless destruction.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Effective kingship (rājadharma) employs proportionate means: force when necessary, but also conciliation and the moral-political weight of victory, with the aim of securing order through tributary allegiance rather than gratuitous violence.
After subduing various rulers during the campaign connected with establishing Yudhiṣṭhira’s supremacy, the hero (Mādrī’s son Nakula, called ariṁdama) makes the defeated kings pay tribute and then returns to Indraprastha.