Shloka 63

Daṇḍanīti and the King as the Cause of Yuga-Order (दण्डनीतिः राजधर्मश्च युगकारणत्वम्)

Devanagari script

निर्वेदयित्वा तु परं हत्वा वा कुरुनन्दन । ततो5नृणो भवेद्‌ राजा यथा शाम्त्रे निदर्शितम्‌

Transliteration

nirvedayitvā tu paraṃ hatvā vā kurunandana | tato 'nṛṇo bhaved rājā yathā śāstre nidarśitam ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Hỡi niềm vui của dòng Kuru, sau khi khiến kẻ thù kiệt quệ tột cùng bằng sự trừng phạt, hoặc nếu không thì đã giết hắn, nhà vua về sau mới được xem là hết nợ—miễn là hành xử đúng như śāstra đã dạy: tôn kính (kẻ bại trận và dòng tộc của hắn) bằng lễ vật, sự kính trọng và các nghi lễ thích đáng.”

Word by Word

• निर्वेदयित्वा: having wearied/harassed (him)
• निर्वेदयित्वा: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: निर्वेदय् (नि√विद् caus.)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), परस्मैपद-भाव, non-finite

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• परम्: the other (enemy)/the opponent
• परम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• हत्वा: having slain (him)
• हत्वा: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन्
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), परस्मैपद-भाव, non-finite

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा

• कुरुनन्दन: O delight of the Kurus
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरुनन्दन
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• ततः: then/thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• अनृणः: free from debt/obligation
• अनृणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनृण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• भवेत्: should become
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: विधिलिङ्, optative, 3rd, Singular, परस्मैपद

• राजा: the king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• यथा: as/according to how
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• शास्त्रे: in the treatise/scripture
• शास्त्रे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शास्त्र
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• निदर्शितम्: shown/laid down
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि√दृश्
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular, Passive (PPP)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Kurunandana (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• rājā (the king)
• para (the enemy/opponent)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when a king must punish or kill an enemy, he should not act from mere vengeance; he must follow śāstric procedure and then discharge residual moral/ritual obligations by honoring the fallen foe (and his lineage) through appropriate respect, gifts, and rites—thus becoming anṛṇa, free of debt.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction on rājadharma in Śānti Parva, he advises Yudhiṣṭhira that after subduing an adversary—either by exhausting him through chastisement or by killing him—the king should complete the act in a regulated, dharmic way, including post-conflict honoring, so that the king’s duty is fulfilled without lingering obligation.