Shloka 20
कृतपापस्त्वसौ राजा य एतान् न नियच्छति । तथा कृतस्य धर्मस्य चतुर्भागमुपाश्ुते,जो राजा इन पापियोंको नियन्त्रणमें नहीं रखता, वह स्वयं भी पापाचारी माना जाता है तथा जो पापियोंका दमन करता है, वह प्रजाके किये हुए धर्मका चौथाई भाग स्वयं प्राप्त कर लेता है
kṛtapāpas tv asau rājā ya etān na niyacchati | tathā kṛtasya dharmasya caturbhāgam upāśnute ||
Disse Bhīṣma: O rei que não refreia tais malfeitores é ele próprio considerado um praticante do pecado. Mas o rei que os contém e reprime partilha do mérito conquistado por seus súditos—recebendo um quarto do dharma que eles praticam—pois protege a ordem moral ao impor a disciplina.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler is morally accountable for public order: failing to restrain wrongdoers makes the king complicit in their sin, while enforcing restraint and punishment earns the king a share (one fourth) of the subjects’ accumulated merit because he safeguards dharma.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma advises Yudhiṣṭhira about governance. Here he explains the ethical consequence for a king regarding control of sinful people: negligence brings sin; active restraint brings a portion of the people’s merit.