Shloka 12
Udyoga Parva Adhyaya 62 — Duryodhana’s Claim of Victory and Vidura’s Allegories on Discord and Risk
क्रव्याद्धय इव भूतानामदान्ते भ्य: सदा भयम् । येषां च प्रतिषेधार्थ क्षत्रं सृष्टं स््वयम्भुवा,जैसे मांसभोजी हिंसक पशुओंसे सब जीव डरते रहते हैं, उसी प्रकार अदान्त (असंयमी) पुरुषोंसे सभी प्राणियोंको सदा भय बना रहता है, जिनको हिंसा आदि दुष्कर्मोंसे रोकनेके लिये ब्रह्माजीने क्षत्रिय-जातिकी सृष्टि की है
kravyāddhaya iva bhūtānām adāntebhyaḥ sadā bhayam | yeṣāṃ ca pratiṣedhārthaṃ kṣatraṃ sṛṣṭaṃ svayambhuvā ||
Vidura disse: “Assim como todas as criaturas vivem em constante temor dos predadores carnívoros, assim também todos os seres permanecem sempre temerosos dos homens sem freio e sem disciplina. Foi precisamente para conter tais pessoas—refreando a violência e outras faltas—que Svayambhū (Brahmā) criou o Kṣatra, o poder régio e guerreiro.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Uncontrolled, violent, and undisciplined people become a source of fear to society, like predators in the wild. Therefore legitimate royal power (kṣatra) exists to restrain wrongdoing and protect beings through enforcement of dharma.
In Vidura’s counsel during the Udyoga Parva, he explains the ethical rationale for kingship and the kṣatriya function: it is instituted by the cosmic creator to curb harmful conduct and maintain social safety and order.