Shloka 17
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय ८१: कृष्णस्य दूतप्रयाणम्
Udyoga Parva, Chapter 81: Krishna Sets Out as Envoy
दशाहईनन्दन! अपने धर्मका पालन करनेवाले क्षत्रियको चाहिये कि वह लोभका आश्रय लेनेवाले मनुष्यको भले ही वह क्षत्रिय हो या अक्षत्रिय, अवश्य मार डाले ।।
vaiśampāyana uvāca | daśāhīnandana! svadharmapālana-parāyaṇena kṣatriyeṇa lobhāśrayaṃ kurvāṇaṃ manuṣyaṃ sa kṣatriyo vā akṣatriyo vā niyataṃ hantavyaḥ || anyatra brāhmaṇāt tāta sarvapāpeṣv avasthitāt | guruḥ hi sarvavarṇānāṃ brāhmaṇaḥ prasṛtāgrabhuk ||
毗舍波耶那说道：“噢，达沙诃的后裔！坚守自身达摩的刹帝利，必当诛杀那依附贪欲之人——不论其为刹帝利与否。然而，亲爱的，此规不及婆罗门；纵使婆罗门沉溺诸罪，也不应施以死刑。因为婆罗门乃诸种姓之师，亦为布施之物的首受者——对所施之财，享有最先的正当受领权。”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a kṣatriya’s duty as enforcing social and moral order by punishing greed-driven wrongdoing, while simultaneously prescribing a strong restraint: brāhmaṇas are exempt from execution even when morally fallen, because of their sacral status as teachers and primary recipients of gifts.
Vaiśampāyana, in the Udyoga Parva context of counsel and policy before the great war, states a normative rule about royal/warrior justice: who may be killed as part of kṣatriya duty and who is protected by exception, grounding the exception in the traditional authority attributed to brāhmaṇas.