Shloka 7
Gārhasthya-Śreṣṭhatā and Kṣatriya-Daṇḍadhāraṇa
Householder Primacy and the Royal Duty of Punishment
वेदज्ञानं च ते कृत्स्नं तपश्चाचरितं महत् । पितृपैतामहं राज्यं धुर्यवद् वोढुमरहसि
vedajñānaṃ ca te kṛtsnaṃ tapaścācaritaṃ mahat | pitṛpaitāmahaṃ rājyaṃ dhuryavad voḍhum arhasi ||
वेदज्ञानं च ते कृत्स्नं तपश्चाचरितं महत् । पितृपैतामहं राज्यं धुर्यवद् वोढुमर्हसि ॥
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Learning (Vedic knowledge) and self-discipline (tapas) qualify a person for public responsibility; one should accept and carry the inherited duty of governance as a moral obligation, not as a mere privilege.
Vyāsa addresses the addressee (a prospective ruler) and, citing his complete Vedic learning and great austerities, urges him to shoulder the burden of the ancestral kingdom like a competent, steadfast leader.