Shloka 1
अध्याय ७२ — राजधर्मः: प्रजारक्षण, कर-नीति, दण्ड-नीति, अमात्य-नियोजन
Chapter 72 — Royal Duty: protection of subjects, taxation, punishment, and appointments
/ ऑपन--माजल बक। अकाल एकसप्ततितमो<् ध्याय: धर्मपूर्वक प्रजाका पालन ही राजाका महान् धर्म है, इसका प्रतिपादन युधिछिर उवाच कथं राजा प्रजा रक्षन्नाधिबन्धेन युज्यते | धर्मेण नापराध्नोति तन्मे ब्रूहि पितामह,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--पितामह! किस प्रकार प्रजाका पालन करनेवाला राजा चिन्तामें नहीं पड़ता और धर्मके विषयमें अपराधी नहीं होता, यह मुझे बताइये
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: kathaṁ rājā prajā rakṣann ādhibandhena yujyate | dharmeṇa nāparādhnoti tan me brūhi pitāmaha ||
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Lolo, paano nagagawang ng isang hari, habang pinangangalagaan ang kanyang mga nasasakupan, na hindi mabaon sa pag-aalala at pagkakagapos? At paano siya hindi nagkakasala laban sa dharma? Ipaunawa mo ito sa akin.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a central problem of rājadharma: how a ruler can fulfill the heavy duty of protecting the people without falling into anxious entanglement, and how to govern without violating dharma—seeking a principled, ethically blameless mode of rule.
In Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira approaches Bhīṣma (addressed as Pitāmaha) for instruction on righteous governance. This opening question introduces the chapter’s discussion on the king’s duty to protect subjects and the ethical pressures that accompany rule.