Shloka 13
Cāturāśramya-dharma—Marks of the Four Āśramas (चातुराश्रम्यधर्मः)
मान्धातोवाच यवना: किराता गान्धाराक्षीना: शबरबर्बरा: | शकास्तुषारा: कड्काश्च पह्लवाश्चान्ध्रमद्रका:
māndhātovāca—yavanāḥ kirātā gāndhārāḥ cīnāḥ śabarabarbarāḥ | śakās tuṣārāḥ kaṅkāś ca pahlavāś cāndhramadrakāḥ ||
Wika ni Māndhātā: “O Mapalad na Panginoon, sa loob ng aking kaharian ay naninirahan sa lahat ng dako ang maraming mleccha—ang mga Yavana, Kirāta, Gāndhāra, Cīna, Śabara at Barbara; ang mga Śaka, Tuṣāra, Kaṅka, Pahlava, gayundin ang Āndhra at Madraka. Kabilang sa kanila ang mga inapo ng mga Brāhmaṇa at Kṣatriya, at mayroon ding ilang Vaiśya at Śūdra na nalihis sa dharma. Lahat sila’y nabubuhay sa pagnanakaw at panggugulo. Paano makapagsasagawa ng dharma ang gayong mga tao? At paano sila dapat ilagay ng mga haring tulad ko sa wastong hangganan at disiplina?”
इन्द्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic rāja-dharma problem: when diverse communities—including those seen as outside Vedic norms and those who have ‘fallen’ from proper conduct—live within a kingdom and survive by crime, the king must find a way to bring them under maryādā (disciplined limits) so that social order and dharma can function.
King Māndhātā addresses Indra, describing the presence of many frontier/foreign peoples and socially degraded groups in his realm, noting their reliance on theft and robbery, and asks how they can be made to practice dharma and how a ruler should regulate and reform them.