Shloka 14

राजधर्मः, दण्डनीतिः, कर्तृत्व-विचारः च

Royal Duty, Lawful Discipline, and the Question of Agency

Devanagari script

यथा हि पुरुषश्टछिंद्याद्‌ वृक्ष परशुना वने । छेत्तुरेव भवेत्‌ पापं परशोर्न कथठ्चन,जैसे कोई पुरुष वनमें कुल्हाड़ीद्वारा जब किसी वृक्षको काटता है, तब उसका पाप कुल्हाड़ी चलानेवाले पुरुषको ही लगता है। कुल्हाड़ीको किसी प्रकार नहीं लगता

Transliteration

yathā hi puruṣaś chindyād vṛkṣaṁ paraśunā vane | chettur eva bhavet pāpaṁ paraśor na kathaṁcana ||

Translation

Cũng như trong rừng, khi một người dùng rìu đốn cây, lỗi về đạo lý chỉ thuộc về kẻ đốn; tuyệt nhiên không dính vào chiếc rìu.

Word by Word

यथाjust as

हिindeed

पुरुषःa man

छिन्द्यात्should cut

वृक्षम्a tree

परशुनाwith an axe

वनेin the forest

छेत्तुःof the cutter

एवonly/indeed

भवेत्would be / should be

पापम्sin/evil (demerit)

परशोःof the axe

नnot

कथञ्चनin any way/at all

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

puruṣa (the cutter/agent)

vṛkṣa (tree)

paraśu (axe)

vana (forest)

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?

Moral merit or fault attaches to the conscious doer (the one who intends and acts), not to the inert tool; instruments are ethically neutral, while agency and intention determine karmic responsibility.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa illustrates an ethical principle through a simple analogy: when a man fells a tree using an axe in the forest, blame belongs to the person wielding the axe, not to the axe itself—clarifying how responsibility is assigned in actions.