Shloka 27
Vyavahāra-Śuddhi and Rājadharma: Clean Administration, Counsel, and Proportional Punishment
Chapter 86
यथोीक्तवादिन दूत॑ क्षत्रधर्मरतो नृपः । यो हन्यात् पितरस्तस्य भ्रूणहत्यामवाप्तुयु:,क्षत्रियधर्ममें तत्पर रहनेवाला जो राजा अपने स्वामीके कथनानुसार यथार्थ बातें कहनेवाले दूतको मार डालता है, उसके पितरोंको भ्रूणहत्याके फलका भोग करना पड़ता है
yathokta-vādinam dūtaṁ kṣatra-dharma-rato nṛpaḥ | yo hanyāt pitaras tasya bhrūṇa-hatyām avāpnuyuḥ ||
Wika ni Bhishma: Kahit ang hari ay masugid sa kṣatra-dharma, kung papatayin niya ang sugo na nagsasabi lamang ng katotohanan ayon sa utos ng kaniyang panginoon, ang mga ninuno ng haring iyon ay pagdurusahan ang bunga ng isang napakabigat na kasalanan—na inihahalintulad dito sa kasalanang pagpatay sa sanggol sa sinapupunan (bhrūṇa-hatyā). Ipinahihiwatig ng taludtod ang di-malalabag na dangal ng mga sugo at ang malayong pasaning umaabot hanggang sa angkan kapag nilapastangan ang gayong pag-iingat ng dharma.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A messenger who truthfully delivers his master’s words is ethically protected; killing such an envoy is a grave adharma whose karmic burden extends beyond the king to his ancestral line, expressed as the severe demerit likened to bhrūṇa-hatyā.
In Bhishma’s instruction on righteous conduct in the Shanti Parva, he lays down a rule of statecraft and morality: even a duty-bound warrior-king must not harm an envoy who speaks as instructed; violating this norm brings catastrophic sin affecting the king’s forefathers.