Shloka 7
Gārhasthya-Śreṣṭhatā and Kṣatriya-Daṇḍadhāraṇa
Householder Primacy and the Royal Duty of Punishment
वेदज्ञानं च ते कृत्स्नं तपश्चाचरितं महत् । पितृपैतामहं राज्यं धुर्यवद् वोढुमरहसि
vedajñānaṃ ca te kṛtsnaṃ tapaścācaritaṃ mahat | pitṛpaitāmahaṃ rājyaṃ dhuryavad voḍhum arhasi ||
ਤੈਨੂੰ ਵੇਦਾਂ ਦਾ ਪੂਰਾ ਗਿਆਨ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਤੂੰ ਮਹਾਨ ਤਪੱਸਿਆ ਕੀਤੀ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਲਈ ਪਿਤਾ‑ਪਿਤਾਮਹਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਮਿਲੇ ਇਸ ਰਾਜ ਦਾ ਭਾਰ ਤੂੰ ਇੱਕ ਧੁਰੰਧਰ ਤੇ ਅਡੋਲ ਨੇਤਾ ਵਾਂਗ ਢੋਣਾ ਚਾਹੀਦਾ ਹੈ।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Learning (Vedic knowledge) and self-discipline (tapas) qualify a person for public responsibility; one should accept and carry the inherited duty of governance as a moral obligation, not as a mere privilege.
Vyāsa addresses the addressee (a prospective ruler) and, citing his complete Vedic learning and great austerities, urges him to shoulder the burden of the ancestral kingdom like a competent, steadfast leader.