Adhyaya 18 — Arjuna Declines the Throne; Garga Directs Him to Dattatreya; The Gods Defeat the Daityas through Dattatreya’s Vision and the Movement of Lakshmi
गृह्णतो बलिषड्भागं नृपतेर्नरको ध्रुवम् ।
निरूपितमिदं राज्ञः पूर्वै रक्षणवेतनम् ॥
gṛhṇato bali-ṣaḍbhāgaṃ nṛpater narako dhruvam /
nirūpitam idaṃ rājñaḥ pūrvair rakṣaṇa-vetanam
जो राजा योग्य रक्षण न करता बलि व सहावा हिस्सा घेतो, त्याला नरक निश्चित आहे. प्राचीनांनी हे राजाच्या संरक्षण-सेवेचे वेतन ठरवले आहे; म्हणजे करग्रहण फक्त रक्षणाच्या मोबदल्यातच योग्य आहे.
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The verse defines taxation as remuneration for protection; extracting revenue without fulfilling that duty is not merely inefficient but gravely sinful with assured negative afterlife consequences.
Dharma (especially rājadharma) embedded in vaṃśānucarita; it supports Purāṇic moral governance as part of societal maintenance.
‘Rakṣaṇa-vetana’ encodes a dharmic economy: authority must circulate benefit. When circulation stops (taking without giving), the ruler’s spiritual trajectory collapses (naraka as the symbol of that collapse).