Shloka 4
Chapter 78: Royal Responsibility for Wealth, Social Order, and the Protection of Dvijas
Kekaya Exemplum
यस्य सम विषये राज्ञ: स्तेनो भवति वै द्विज: । राज्ञ एवापराधं त॑ मन्यन्ते किल्बिषं नूप,नरेश्वर! जिस राजाके राज्यमें कोई ब्राह्मण चोरी करने लग जाता है, वह राजा अपराधी माना जाता है। विचारवान् पुरुष इसे राजाका ही अपराध और पाप समझते हैं
yasya sama-viṣaye rājñaḥ steno bhavati vai dvijaḥ | rājña evāparādhaṃ taṃ manyante kilbiṣaṃ nṛpa nara-īśvara |
भीष्म म्हणाले—हे नरेश्वर! ज्या राजाच्या राज्यात एखादा ब्राह्मण चोर बनतो, तो दोष राजाचाच मानला जातो. विचारवंत त्या अपराध व पापाला शासकाचेच समजतात.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler bears moral responsibility for the condition of his realm: if theft and corruption arise under his governance—even among those expected to be virtuous—the wise attribute the fault and resulting sin to the king, since maintaining justice and preventing wrongdoing are central duties of rājadharma.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma addresses the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) and explains principles of governance. Here he states that crimes occurring within a king’s own territory reflect a failure of rule, so the king is held accountable for such disorder.