Shloka 24
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
ये धनादपकर्षन्ति नरं स््वबलमास्थिता: । ते धर्ममर्थ कामं च प्रमथ्नन्ति नरं च तम्
ye dhanād apakarṣanti naraṁ svabalam āsthitāḥ | te dharmam arthaṁ kāmaṁ ca pramathnanti naraṁ ca tam ||
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: Ang mga taong, umaasa sa sariling lakas, ay nagkakait sa isang tao ng kanyang yaman—hindi lamang nila winawasak ang kanyang dharma, artha, at kama; winawasak din nila ang mismong taong iyon.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Using power to dispossess someone of wealth is not a minor wrongdoing: it collapses the victim’s capacity to live dharmically, sustain livelihood (artha), and pursue legitimate human aims (kāma), thereby harming the person at the root.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates an ethical critique of coercive power: those who seize another’s wealth by force commit a comprehensive injury—social, moral, and personal—rather than a mere economic loss.