Shloka 14
Rājā–Rāja-Śabda-Prabhavaḥ — The Origin and Rationale of Kingship and Daṇḍanīti
न वै राज्यं न राजा55सीन्न च दण्डो न दाण्डिक: । धर्मेणैव प्रजा: सर्वा रक्षन्ति सम परस्परम्
na vai rājyaṃ na rājāsīn na ca daṇḍo na dāṇḍikaḥ | dharmeṇaiva prajāḥ sarvā rakṣanti sma parasparam ||
Bhishma nói: Thuở ban sơ không có vương quốc, không có vua; không có hình phạt, cũng không có kẻ thi hành hình phạt. Muôn dân chỉ nương vào dharma mà gìn giữ lẫn nhau, kính trọng nhau như nhau.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Social harmony is ideally sustained by dharma—internal moral restraint and mutual responsibility—so that coercive governance (daṇḍa) becomes unnecessary. The verse contrasts self-regulated ethical order with later reliance on kingship and punishment.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on governance and righteousness, Bhīṣma describes an early age or ideal condition where there was no formal state apparatus—no king, no penal power—because people protected each other through dharma alone.