Shloka 15

Devanagari script

या हि शक्‍्या महाराज साम्ना भेदेन वा पुन: । निस्तर्तुमापद: स्वेषु दण्डं कस्तत्र पातयेत्‌,कोई भी राजा स्वजनोंमें फैलती हुई फ़ूटकी उपेक्षा कैसे कर सकता है? राजन! स्वजनोंमें फूट डालकर उनसे विलग होनेवाले आपकी सभी शत्रु हँसी उड़ायेंगे। महाराज! जिस आपत्तिको साम अथवा भेदनीतिसे पार किया जा सकता है, उसके लिये आत्मीयजनोंपर दण्डका प्रयोग कौन करेगा?

Transliteration

yā hi śakyā mahārāja sāmnā bhedena vā punaḥ | nistartum āpadaḥ sveṣu daṇḍaṃ kas tatra pātayet ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana disse: “Ó grande rei, quando uma crise entre os próprios pode ser vencida pela conciliação (sāma) ou por uma divisão e negociação prudentes (bheda), quem recorreria ali ao castigo?”

Word by Word

yāwhich

hiindeed/for

śakyāpossible, able to be done

mahārājaO great king

sāmnāby conciliation

bhedenaby dissension/strategy of division

vāor

punaḥagain/also

nistartumto cross over, to overcome

āpadaḥcalamities/dangers

sveṣuamong one’s own (people)

daṇḍampunishment/force

kaḥwho?

tatrathere/in that case

pātayetwould apply/inflict (lit. cause to fall)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Mahārāja (addressed king)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler should prefer non-violent, policy-based remedies—conciliation (sāman) or strategic negotiation/division (bheda)—to handle troubles within one’s own people; punishment (daṇḍa) is ethically and politically inappropriate when gentler means can resolve the crisis.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, narrating to the king, articulates a principle of statecraft: internal discord among one’s own should not be met with harsh coercion when it can be managed through diplomacy, since visible fractures among kin invite enemy ridicule and weaken the polity.