Shloka 15
Kośārtha-Rājadharma: Ethical Revenue Collection and Social Regulation (कोशार्थ-राजधर्मः)
नियम्या: सर्व एवैते ये राष्ट्स्योपघातका: । एते राष्ट्रेईभितिष्ठन्तो बाधन्ते भद्विका: प्रजा:,शराबखाना खोलनेवाले, वेश्याएँ, कुट्टनियाँ, वेश्याओंके दलाल, जुआरी तथा ऐसे ही बुरे पेशे करनेवाले और भी जितने लोग हों, वे समूचे राष्ट्रको हानि पहुँचानेवाले हैं; अत: इन सबको दण्ड देकर दबाये रखना चाहिये। यदि ये राज्यमें टिके रहते हैं तो कल्याणमार्गपर चलनेवाली प्रजाको बड़ी बाधाएँ पहुँचाते हैं
niyamyāḥ sarva evaite ye rāṣṭrasyopaghātakāḥ | ete rāṣṭre ’bhitiṣṭhanto bādhante bhadrikāḥ prajāḥ ||
Bhishma said: All such persons as are injurious to the kingdom must be restrained. If they are allowed to remain and establish themselves within the realm, they obstruct and harass the well-conducted, virtuous subjects, becoming serious impediments to the people’s welfare and the state’s moral order.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king must protect social and moral order by restraining those who harm the state and who obstruct the welfare of respectable, law-abiding subjects; governance includes active regulation and punishment when needed.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on kingship, Bhishma advises the ruler that people who damage the kingdom should not be allowed to entrench themselves in the realm, because their presence becomes a direct obstacle to the well-being of good citizens.