Shloka 29
कपोत-लुब्धकसंवादः — Hunter’s Remorse and Renunciatory Resolve
यस्य दस्युगणा राष्ट्र ध्वांक्षा मत्स्यान् जलादिव । विहरन्ति परस्वानि स वै क्षत्रियपांसन:
yasya dasyugaṇā rāṣṭre dhvāṅkṣā matsyān jalād iva | viharanti parasvāni sa vai kṣatriyapāṁsanaḥ ||
毗湿摩曰：若一国之中盗贼成群，夺人财物，如鹭从水中攫鱼，则其君实为刹帝利一族之耻。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king’s primary dharma is protection: if robbers freely plunder others’ property in his realm, it signals failure of governance. Such a ruler is condemned as a disgrace to the Kṣatriya ideal of guardianship and justice.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira about standards of kingship. He uses a vivid simile—predatory birds snatching fish—to describe unchecked banditry, and he censures the king who allows it.