Shloka 37
आपद्धर्मे वैश्यवृत्तिः, विक्रय-निषेधाः, तथा ब्रह्म-क्षत्र-सम्बन्धः
Emergency Livelihood, Prohibited Trade, and Brahman–Kshatra Regulation
कार्य कुर्यान्न वा कुर्यात् संवार्यो वा भवेन्न वा । तस्माच्छस्त्रं ग्रहीतव्यमन्यत्र क्षत्रबन्धुत:
kāryaṁ kuryān na vā kuryāt saṁvāryo vā bhaven na vā | tasmāc chastraṁ grahītavyam anyatra kṣatrabandhutaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Dapat bang kumilos o dapat bang magpigil; dapat bang pigilan o hindi—kaya nga, maliban sa isang ‘kṣatrabandhu’ (kṣatriya sa pangalan lamang), ang pagkuha ng sandata ay dapat tanggapin bilang kinakailangan. Sa panahong dumarami ang tulisan, gumuho ang kaayusang panlipunan, at walang lunas na makita para sa pag-iingat sa bayan, maging yaong wala sa uri ng kṣatriya ay maaaring makatarungang magdala ng sandata upang ipagtanggol ang dharma at pangalagaan ang pamayanan.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
In crisis conditions where public safety and dharma are threatened, the ethical priority becomes protection of society; taking up arms can be justified beyond strict varṇa-role boundaries, while those who are kṣatriya only in name (kṣatrabandhu) are excluded from being treated as proper agents of righteous force.
Yudhiṣṭhira questions Bhīṣma about governance and emergency ethics: if banditry grows and social disorder spreads, can a strong brāhmaṇa, vaiśya, or śūdra wield punitive force to protect people when kṣatriyas fail? This verse frames the dilemma—act or refrain, restrain or allow—and leans toward permitting arms for protection in exceptional circumstances.