Shloka 15
Gārhasthya-Śreṣṭhatā and Kṣatriya-Daṇḍadhāraṇa
Householder Primacy and the Royal Duty of Punishment
भूमिरेतौ निगिरति सर्पे बिलशयानिव । राजानं चाविरोद्धारं ब्राह्मणं चाप्रवासिनम्
bhūmir etau nigirati sarpe bilaśayān iva | rājānaṃ cāviroddhāraṃ brāhmaṇaṃ cāpravāsinam ||
Wika ni Vyāsa: “Gaya ng ahas na lumulunok sa mga nilalang na naninirahan sa mga lungga, gayon din ‘nilulunok’ ng lupa ang dalawang ito: ang haring hindi lumalaban (hindi pumipigil sa kasamaan) at ang brāhmaṇa na hindi lumalabas (nanatiling walang-kibo at pinababayaan ang nararapat na disiplina).”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Two forms of dereliction are condemned: a king who fails to restrain wrongdoing and protect order, and a brāhmaṇa who remains inactive instead of pursuing the disciplined obligations of his role. Both are said to be ‘swallowed by the earth,’ i.e., brought to ruin and obscurity by the consequences of neglected dharma.
Vyāsa delivers a proverbial warning within the Shānti Parva’s instruction on dharma: using the image of a serpent swallowing burrow-dwelling creatures, he states that the earth similarly consumes two negligent figures—an unresisting king and a brāhmaṇa who does not ‘go forth’—to stress accountability in governance and spiritual life.