Shloka 97
Daṇḍanīti and the King as the Cause of Yuga-Order (दण्डनीतिः राजधर्मश्च युगकारणत्वम्)
रसा: सर्वे क्षयं यान्ति यदा नेच्छति भूमिप: । प्रजा: संरक्षितुं सम्यग् दण्डनीतिसमाहित:
rasāḥ sarve kṣayaṃ yānti yadā necchati bhūmipaḥ | prajāḥ saṃrakṣituṃ samyag daṇḍanīti-samāhitaḥ ||
جب بادشاہ دَندنیتی (سزا و نظمِ حکومت کے علم) میں قائم ہو کر بھی رعایا کی ٹھیک طرح حفاظت کرنا سچّی نیت سے نہیں چاہتا، تو زمین کے سب ‘رس’—یعنی خوشحالی، زرخیزی اور بقا بخش وسائل—زائل ہو جاتے ہیں۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kingship is justified by protection. Even if a ruler possesses daṇḍanīti (administrative and punitive power), without the sincere will to safeguard subjects, the realm’s prosperity and the earth’s sustaining resources decline—an ethical warning that authority must serve welfare (rakṣaṇa) to uphold dharma.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rajadharma, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira about the duties of a ruler. Here he states a consequence of negligent governance: when a king fails to protect the people, the kingdom’s prosperity withers, symbolized as the ‘rasas’ of the earth perishing.