Shloka 9

Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma

Devanagari script

ऋषत्विक्‌पुरोहिताचार्यान्‌ सत्कृतानभिसत्कृतान्‌ । न ब्राह्मणान्‌ घातयीत दोषान्‌ प्राप्रोति घातयन्‌,कितनी ही आपत्ति क्‍यों न हो, ऋत्विक्‌ू, पुरोहित, आचार्य तथा सत्कृत या असत्कृत ब्राह्मणोंसे, वे धनी हों तो भी धन लेकर उन्हें पीड़ा न दे। यदि राजा उन्हें धनापहरणके द्वारा कष्ट देता है तो पापका भागी होता है

Transliteration

ṛṣatvik-purohitācāryān satkṛtān abhisatkṛtān | na brāhmaṇān ghātayīta doṣān prāpnoti ghātayan ||

Translation

कितीही आपत्ती असली तरी ऋत्विक, पुरोहित, आचार्य तसेच सत्कृत वा असत्कृत ब्राह्मणांना पीडा देऊ नये; ते धनवान असले तरी त्यांचे धन हिरावून त्यांना त्रास देऊ नये. जो ब्राह्मणांना दुःख देतो, तो दोष (पाप) प्राप्त करतो.

Word by Word

{'ṛṣatvik/ṛtvij''sacrificial officiant

priest who performs rites', 'purohita''family/royal chaplain

household priest', 'ācārya''teacher

preceptor', 'satkṛta''honored

treated with respect', 'abhisatkṛta''not honored / insufficiently honored (treated without due respect)', 'brāhmaṇa': 'a Brahmin

here, a protected religious person', 'ghātayīta (√han, causative)''should cause harm/kill

should injure or oppress', 'doṣa''fault

sin', 'prāpnoti''attains

becomes subject to', 'ghātayan''harming

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

brāhmaṇāḥ (Brahmins)

Ṛ

ṛtvij (ṛṣatvik)

purohita

ācārya

rājā (king, implied by the ethical injunction)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma teaches that harming Brahmins—especially priests and teachers—creates moral fault (doṣa). Even under crisis, a ruler should not oppress them or seize their wealth; governance must remain within dharma, and coercion against such protected persons is condemned.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous rule, Bhīṣma lays down a specific prohibition for kings: do not injure or harass Brahmins (whether honored or not), and do not cause them suffering through confiscation or force, because such acts make the ruler culpable.