Sutra 4

Devanagari script

राज्योपघातिनस्तु वल्लभाः संहता वा ये मुख्याः प्रकाशमशक्याः प्रतिषेद्धुं दूष्याः तेषु धर्मरुचिरुपांशुदण्डं प्रयुञ्जीत ॥ कZ_०५.१.०४ ॥

Transliteration

rājyopaghātinastu vallabhāḥ saṃhatā vā ye mukhyāḥ prakāśamaśakyāḥ pratiṣeddhuṃ dūṣyāḥ teṣu dharmarucirupāṃśudaṇḍaṃ prayuñjīta

Translation

Namun apabila orang kesayangan atau tokoh-tokoh utama yang bersekutu itu memudaratkan negara—sehingga tidak dapat disekat secara terbuka, tetapi boleh dijatuhkan/diterjerumuskan—maka hendaklah dikenakan terhadap mereka suatu “hukuman terselindung yang tampak seolah-olah menurut dharma (undang-undang)”.

Word by Word

राज्योपघातिनःthose who harm the state

तुhowever / but

वल्लभाःfavorites (close, influential persons)

संहताःunited / banded together

वाor

येwho / those who

मुख्याःprincipal / leading

प्रकाशम्openly / in public

अशक्याःnot possible (to be) / impossible (to)

प्रतिषेद्धुम्to prevent / to forbid

दूष्याःto be discredited / to be corrupted (as a measure)

तेषुagainst them / in their case

धर्मरुचिम्(a) ‘dharma-pleasing’ / appearing righteous (as an epithet of the covert punishment)

उपांशुदण्डम्a covert/secret punishment

प्रयुञ्जीतshould employ / should apply

Entities Mentioned

vallabha (favorite)

rājya (state)

FAQs

What is ‘dharmaruci upāṃśudaṇḍa’ as a governance technique?

Discreet neutralization framed as lawful/morally acceptable, used when open confrontation would be politically costly or infeasible.