Shloka 14
Brāhmaṇa-mahattva and Atithi-Dharma
Brahmagītā: Praise of Brāhmaṇas and norms of honor
यदि स्वविषये राजन प्रभुस्त्व॑ं रक्षणे नृणाम् खेचरस्य तृषार्तस्य न त्वं प्रभुरथोत्तम
yadi svaviṣaye rājan prabhus tvaṁ rakṣaṇe nṛṇām | khecarasya tṛṣārtasya na tvaṁ prabhur athottama ||
Disse o falcão: “Se, ó rei, tua autoridade se estende a proteger os homens que habitam dentro do teu próprio reino, então estás de fato investido do poder de guardar os mortais. Mas sobre uma ave do céu, atormentada pela fome e pela sede, não és senhor, ó o mais eminente dos aurigas.”
श्येन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a boundary of royal authority: a king’s dharma is primarily the protection of human subjects within his realm. The hawk argues that this mandate does not automatically make the king the ‘master’ over every creature’s natural needs, especially a hungry, thirst-stricken bird, thereby raising questions about jurisdiction, duty, and the limits of intervention.
In a disputation involving a hawk (śyena) and a king, the hawk challenges the king’s claim to protect by asserting that the king’s protective authority applies to people of his territory, not to the hawk’s urgent condition as a sky-roaming creature driven by hunger and thirst.