Shloka 21
Rājapurohita-lakṣaṇa and Purūravas–Vāyu Saṃvāda
Varṇa, Sovereignty, and Abhaya-dāna
यज्ञमेवोपजीवन्ति नास्ति चेष्टमराजके । देवता, मनुष्य, पितर, गन्धर्व, नाग और राक्षस--ये सबके सब यज्ञका आश्रय लेकर जीवन-निर्वाह करते हैं; परंतु जहाँ कोई राजा नहीं है, उस राज्यमें यज्ञ नहीं होता है || २० हे || इतो दत्तेन जीवन्ति देवता: पितरस्तथा
yajñam evopajīvanti nāsti ceṣṭam arājake | ito dattena jīvanti devatāḥ pitaras tathā ||
यज्ञमेवोपजीवन्ति नास्ति चेष्टमराजके । इतो दत्तेन जीवन्ति देवताः पितरस्तथा ॥
ऐल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links political order to religious and ethical order: yajña (sacrificial giving) sustains gods and ancestors, but yajña requires stable governance. Without a king (arājaka), disciplined social action and ritual duty collapse, harming the reciprocal economy of giving that upholds dharma.
In Śānti Parva’s discourse on rājadharma (the duties and necessity of kingship), Aila argues that the king’s presence enables organized rites and lawful activity. He emphasizes that offerings and gifts made by humans are what sustain divine and ancestral beings, so a kingless realm undermines both worldly welfare and ritual continuity.