Shloka 24
वाली–रामसंवादः
Rama’s Justification to Vali on Rājadharma
गुरूर्धर्मव्यतिक्रान्तं प्राज्ञो धर्मेण पालयन्।।भरतः कामवृत्तानां निग्रहे पर्यवस्थितः।
gurur dharmavyatikrāntaṃ prājño dharmeṇa pālayan | bharataḥ kāmavṛttānāṃ nigrahe paryavasthitaḥ ||
Si Bharata—marunong at karapat-dapat igalang—ay namumuno ayon sa dharma, at matatag na nagbabantay upang pigilan at parusahan ang mga lumalabag sa dharma dahil sa pita.
'Wise Bharata being a respectable king rules by dharma. By the command of Bharata, we are bent upon punishing those who have strayed from dharma by being addicted to sensual pleasures.
FAQs
Good governance requires active restraint of desire-driven wrongdoing; dharmic rule is not passive tolerance but principled enforcement.
Rama continues his defense by invoking Bharata’s dharmic kingship as the normative standard for punishing moral transgression.
Bharata’s wisdom and firmness in rajadharma; Rama’s alignment with that standard.