Shloka 25
Kṣātra-Dharma, Daṇḍanīti, and Social Order
Indra–Māndhātṛ Dialogue
इमामुर्वी नाजयद् विक्रमेण देवश्रेष्ठ; सासुरामादिदेव: । चातुर्वर्ण्य चातुराश्रम्य धर्मा: सर्वे न स्युब्रह्मिणानां विनाशात्
imām urvīṁ nājayad vikrameṇa devaśreṣṭhaḥ sāsurām ādidevaḥ | cāturvarṇya-cāturāśramya-dharmāḥ sarve na syur brāhmaṇīnām vināśāt ||
因陀罗说：若诸神之中至上的那位——原初之主毗湿奴——不曾在击败阿修罗之后，以威力与勇武赢得此大地，那么一旦婆罗门灭绝，四姓与四住期的一切义务之法（达摩）便将断绝。此偈强调：护持婆罗门（吠陀学识与祭仪秩序的承载者）被视为社会达摩延续的保障。
इन्द्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the continuity of dharma—especially the varṇa-āśrama duties—is portrayed as dependent on safeguarding Brahmins, who represent Vedic learning, ritual transmission, and moral-legal authority; without them, the social-religious framework collapses.
Indra is explaining a causal link between divine protection of the world (attributed to the primordial lord, identified in the received tradition as Vishnu, who overcomes the Asuras) and the preservation of human dharma; he argues that without such divine victory and protection, Brahmins would be destroyed and the entire varṇa-āśrama order would disappear.