Shloka 8

Devanagari script

कथं च राजा वर्तेत लोके कलुषतां गते । कथमर्थाच्च धर्माच्च न हीयेत परंतप,परंतप! जब लोग पापपरायण हो जाये, उस अवस्थामें राजा कैसा बर्ताव करे, जिससे वह धर्म और अर्थसे भी भ्रष्ट न हो?

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |

kathaṃ ca rājā varteta loke kaluṣatāṃ gate |

katham arthāc ca dharmāc ca na hīyeta parantapa ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira thưa: “Khi thế gian đã sa vào ô uế đạo đức và con người nghiêng về tội lỗi, một vị vua nên xử thế ra sao? Và làm thế nào để, ngay trong thời buổi ấy, ngài không suy giảm cả dharma (bổn phận chính nghĩa) lẫn artha (việc trị quốc và phúc lợi vật chất), hỡi Parantapa?”

Word by Word

कथम्how?

चand

राजाthe king

वर्तेतshould behave / should conduct himself

लोकेin the world

कलुषताम्of impurity / of corruption

गतेwhen (it) has come / when it has occurred

कथम्how?

अर्थात्from wealth / from artha

चand

धर्मात्from dharma / from righteousness

चand

नnot

हीयेतshould not fall away / should not be diminished

परंतपO scorcher of foes (epithet)

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Parantapa (epithet of the addressee)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a central problem of rājadharma: in an age of widespread wrongdoing, a ruler must act in a way that preserves both dharma (justice, moral legitimacy) and artha (effective administration and public welfare), without sacrificing one for the other.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on statecraft and ethics, Yudhiṣṭhira asks a senior authority (addressed as “Parantapa”) how a king should govern when society becomes morally corrupted, seeking guidance on maintaining righteous rule while still securing practical governance.