Shloka 14

Vidurā–Putra Saṃvāda: Utsāha, Kīrti, and Kṣātra Resolve

Udyoga-parva 131

Devanagari script

दण्डनीति: स्वधर्मेण चातुर्वर्ण्य नियच्छति । प्रयुक्ता स्वामिना सम्यगधर्मेभ्यश्व॒ यच्छति

Transliteration

daṇḍanītiḥ svadharmeṇa cāturvarṇyaṃ niyacchati | prayuktā svāminā samyag adharmebhyaś ca yacchati ||

Translation

Vāyu nói: Chính sách trừng phạt và trị quốc (daṇḍanīti), khi được thi hành đúng theo bổn phận riêng của bậc quân vương, sẽ kiềm chế bốn đẳng cấp và giữ họ trong kỷ cương; khi được chủ nhân quyền lực áp dụng đúng đắn, nó cũng ngăn người đời khỏi điều phi nghĩa.

Word by Word

• दण्डनीतिः: policy of punishment; penal discipline
• दण्डनीतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दण्डनीति
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• स्वधर्मेण: by/through one’s own duty
• स्वधर्मेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वधर्म
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• चातुर्वर्ण्यम्: the fourfold social order (four varṇas)
• चातुर्वर्ण्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: चातुर्वर्ण्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• नियच्छति: restrains; keeps under control
• Type: Verb
• Root: यम् (नियम्)
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• प्रयुक्ता: applied; employed
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्र-युज्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle)

• स्वामिना: by the master/king
• स्वामिना: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वामिन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• सम्यक्: properly; rightly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम्यक्

• अधर्मेभ्यः: from unrighteous acts; from adharma
• अधर्मेभ्यः: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अधर्म
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• यच्छति: restrains; holds back
• Type: Verb
• Root: यम्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• daṇḍanīti (royal punishment/governance)
• cāturvarṇya (four varṇas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Daṇḍanīti (the ruler’s disciplinary power) is ethically legitimate only when aligned with svadharma and applied correctly; then it preserves social order and restrains adharma rather than becoming oppression.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is instructing about rājadharma: he explains the function of royal punishment/governance as a stabilizing force that regulates the fourfold social order and prevents people from falling into unrighteous conduct when administered properly.