Shloka 11
Śaṅkha–Likhita Upākhyāna: Daṇḍa, Confession, and the Purification of Kingship (शङ्ख-लिखितोपाख्यानम्)
(प्रत्यक्षमनुमानं च उपमानं तथा55गम: । अभ्पित्तिस्तथैतिहां संशयो निर्णयस्तथा ।।
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
pratyakṣam anumānaṃ ca upamānaṃ tathāgamaḥ |
arthāpattis tathaitihyaṃ saṃśayo nirṇayas tathā ||
ākāro hīḍitaś caiva gatiśreṣṭhā ca bhārata |
pratijñā caiva hetuś ca dṛṣṭānto ’panayau tathā ||
uktā nigamanaṃ teṣāṃ prameyaṃ ca prayojanam |
etāni sādhanāny āhur bahuvarga-prasiddhaye ||
pratyakṣam anumānaṃ ca sarveṣāṃ yonir iṣyate |
pramāṇajño hi śaknoti daṇḍanītau vicakṣaṇaḥ |
apramāṇavatāṃ nīto daṇḍo hanyān mahīpatim ||
deśa-kāla-pratīkṣī yo dasyūn marṣayate nṛpaḥ |
śāstrajāṃ buddhim āsthāya yujyate nainasā hi saḥ ||
毗湿摩波耶那说道：“噢，婆罗多啊，认知之具（pramāṇa）被宣说为：现量（直接知觉）、比量（推理）、譬喻（类比）、圣教/权威证言（āgama）、义成（由必然性而作的设定，arthāpatti）、传闻传统、疑与决断；又有形相、指示（约定之符号）、最善之行径，以及举止行状；而在论证之中，则有命题、因、喻、合与结。此诸种种，皆以成立所知为旨；为使众多群类广泛明了，故而教授。 其中，现量与比量被视为一切决断之根本。通晓正当认知之具者，方能在刑政之学（dandanīti）中明察；而无凭无据之人所施之刑，足以毁灭君王。 君主若审度时地，依凭出自圣典（śāstra）之智慧，而能忍受（或暂且容忍）盗贼之侵扰，则不因此而染罪。”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sound governance depends on sound knowledge: a ruler (and his advisers) must understand valid means of knowing—especially perception and inference—so that punishment and policy are grounded in evidence and reason. Unfounded punishment can ruin the king, while context-sensitive restraint, guided by śāstric wisdom, need not be sinful.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on royal duty, Vaiśampāyana enumerates recognized tools of knowledge and formal steps of reasoning, then applies them to statecraft: the king’s use of daṇḍa (punishment) must be pramāṇa-based, and even tolerating wrongdoers for a time can be justified when done with due regard to place, time, and strategic necessity.