Shloka 33

Devanagari script

अपराधीर्न तावन्तो भृत्या: शिष्टा नराधिपै: । उपघातैर्यथा भृत्या दूषिता निधनं गता:,राजाओंने किन्हीं वास्तविक अपराधोंके कारण उतने सेवकोंको दण्ड नहीं दिया होगा, जितने कि लोगोंके झूठे लगाये गये दोषोंसे कलंकित होकर राजाके हाथसे मारे गये हैं

Transliteration

aparādhīn na tāvanto bhṛtyāḥ śiṣṭā narādhipaiḥ | upaghātair yathā bhṛtyā dūṣitā dhanaṃ gatāḥ ||

Translation

诸王未必因真实罪过而惩治过如此多的臣仆；反倒是那些被虚诬所染、因君主之暴而遭击杀、遂至败亡的臣仆更多。

Word by Word

अपराधीन्offenders, guilty persons

नnot

तावन्तःso many, that many

भृत्याःservants, attendants

शिष्टाःpunished, chastised

नराधिपैःby kings (lords of men)

उपघातैःby injuries/assaults, by attacks

यथाas, just as

भृत्याःservants

दूषिताःdefiled, tainted, falsely accused

निधनम्death, destruction

गताःwent to, reached (i.e., met with)

Speaker

शार्टूल उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śārṭūla

narādhipa (kings/rulers)

bhṛtya (servants/retainers)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Righteous governance requires careful discernment: punishment should follow proven wrongdoing, not rumor or slander. When rulers act on false charges, the innocent suffer ruin, and the king’s justice becomes violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śārṭūla reflects on the plight of dependents at court: many servants are destroyed not for real crimes but because they are tainted by fabricated allegations, leading rulers to strike them down or ruin them through punitive action.