Shloka 13

मोक्षोपाय-निर्णयः

Determination of the Means to Liberation

Devanagari script

उद्वेजनेन बन्धेन विरूपकरणेन च । वधदण्डेन ते क्लिश्या न पुरोहितसंसदि

Transliteration

udvejanena bandhena virūpakaraṇena ca | vadhadaṇḍena te kliśyā na purohitasaṃsadi ||

Translation

Дьюматсена сказал: «Таких виновных следует удерживать страхом, заключением или телесным увечьем, оставляющим на них явный знак; но не следует мучить их смертной казнью, ибо она приносит страдание их семьям. Равно и если они нашли прибежище в собрании или под покровительством жреческого брахмана, царь не должен предавать их казни».

Word by Word

• उद्वेजनेन: by intimidation/terrorizing
• उद्वेजनेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: उद्वेजन
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• बन्धेन: by imprisonment/bondage
• बन्धेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: बन्ध
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• विरूपकरणेन: by disfigurement/making ugly
• विरूपकरणेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विरूपकरण
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• वधदण्डेन: by the punishment of execution/death-penalty
• वधदण्डेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वधदण्ड
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• ते: you (pl.)
• ते: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Accusative, Plural

• क्लिश्याः: you should afflict/torment
• Type: Verb
• Root: क्लिश्
• Form: Present, Imperative (Vidhi-lin/Loṭ), 2nd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• पुरोहितसंसदि: in the assembly/court of the royal priest
• पुरोहितसंसदि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरोहितसंसद्
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

इुमत्सेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dyumatsena
• king (rājā)
• purohita (royal priest/Brāhmaṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse advises proportional punishment: use deterrence, confinement, or other non-lethal penalties, but avoid the death penalty because it causes broader, unjust suffering—especially to the offender’s family—and should not be applied even when the offender has sought priestly refuge.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s discourse on governance and dharma, Dyumatsena instructs on how a king should punish wrongdoing, emphasizing restraint and rejecting capital punishment in this context, including cases involving sanctuary with a Brāhmaṇa priest or in a priestly assembly.