Mahabharata 3.52.15 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 52, Shloka 15
Nala’s Embassy to Damayantī and the Gods’ Proposal (नलस्य दूतत्वं देवप्रस्तावश्च)
राज्यमेव पर धर्म क्षत्रियस्य विदुर्बुधा: । स क्षत्रधर्मविद् राजा मा धर्म्यान्नीनश: पथ:
rājyam eva para dharmaḥ kṣatriyasya vidur budhāḥ | sa kṣatradharmavid rājā mā dharmyān nīnaśaḥ pathaḥ ||
Disse Vaiśampāyana: “Os sábios sabem que o dever mais elevado de um kṣatriya é a própria realeza — governar e proteger. Tu és um rei que conhece o código do kṣatriya; não te desvies do caminho da retidão.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
For a kṣatriya, the highest dharma is responsible kingship—protecting order and society through righteous governance. A ruler who knows this duty should not abandon the dharmic path even under pressure.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, underscores a normative principle of royal ethics: wise authorities regard rule (rājya) as the kṣatriya’s foremost duty, and he urges the addressed king to remain steadfast in dharma rather than waver.
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