Shloka 45

Nāradasya Rājadharma-praśnāḥ

Nārada’s Examination of Royal Ethics

Devanagari script

कच्चिन्नोग्रेण दण्डेन भृशमुद्धिजसे प्रजा: । राष्ट्र तवानुशासन्ति मन्त्रिणो भरतर्षभ,भरतश्रेष्ठ कठोर दण्डके द्वारा तुम प्रजाजनोंको अत्यन्त उद्धेगमें तो नहीं डाल देते? मन्त्रीलोग तुम्हारे राज्यका न्यायपूर्वक पालन करते हैं न?

Transliteration

kaccin nogreṇa daṇḍena bhṛśam uddvijase prajāḥ | rāṣṭraṃ tavānuśāsanti mantriṇo bharatarṣabha ||

Translation

నారదుడు అన్నాడు—ఓ భరతశ్రేష్ఠా, కఠినమైన దండనదండంతో నీవు ప్రజలను అత్యంత కలవరపెడుతున్నావా? అలాగే నీ మంత్రులు న్యాయం, నియమశాసనం ప్రకారం నీ రాజ్యాన్ని పాలిస్తున్నారా?

Word by Word

कच्चित्whether (indeed)? / I hope

नnot

उग्रेणby harsh/terrible

दण्डेनby punishment/rod (authority)

भृशम्excessively, greatly

उद्विजसेyou distress/alarm

प्रजाःthe subjects/people

राष्ट्रम्the kingdom/state

तवof you/your

अनुशासन्तिthey govern/discipline

मन्त्रिणःministers/counsellors

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

bharatarṣabha (addressed king of the Bharata line)

mantriṇaḥ (ministers)

rāṣṭra (kingdom)

prajāḥ (subjects)

daṇḍa (punitive authority)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Punishment (daṇḍa) must be measured and just: a ruler should not terrorize subjects through severity, and governance should be carried out through properly guided administration, ideally with ministers upholding fair discipline.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada, in a sequence of probing questions on statecraft, asks the Bharata king whether he avoids oppressive punishment and whether his ministers are effectively and justly administering the kingdom—testing the ruler’s adherence to rajadharma.