Shloka 160
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
यश्न राजा महोत्साह: क्षत्रधर्मे रतो भवेत् | स तुष्येद् दशभागेन ततस्त्वन्यो दशावरै:
yaśn rājā mahotsāhaḥ kṣatradharme rato bhavet | sa tuṣyed daśabhāgena tatas tv anyo daśāvaraiḥ ||
भीष्म म्हणाले—जो राजा महान उत्साही आणि क्षत्रधर्मात रत असतो, त्याने कर म्हणून प्रजेच्या उत्पन्नाचा दहावा भाग घेऊनच संतुष्ट राहावे. इतर साधारण राजांनी दहाव्या भागापेक्षाही कमी घेऊन समाधान मानावे.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must practice restraint in taxation: even a capable, dharma-abiding king should be content with a tenth share, and lesser rulers should take still less. Legitimate kingship is tied to protection and dharma, not extraction.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rajadharma, Bhishma advises Yudhishthira on proper governance, specifically setting a moral limit on how much revenue a king should take from his subjects.