Quotes - Raja Dharma Parva

The Mahabharata, Vol. 8
Translated by Bibek Debroy
[Unabridged English translation of the
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute's
 Critical Edition of the Mahabharata]

This is a selection of quotes from the Raja Dharma Parva. This parva is one of three parvas of the Shanti Parva.

• "There cannot be a treasury without oppression and without it, how is it possible to have an army?"
  
• "When a kingdom goes into decline, the life of that king is one of shame."
  
• "There is no livelihood that exists without violence. Even a solitary sage, active and roaming in the forest, cannot manage to do that." 

• "What is said about dharma is true - it does not exist where there are no riches."
  
• "Dharma is stained by jealousy. Artha is stained by secrecy. Kama is stained by excessive addiction."
  
• "The foundation of the body is dharma, and artha is based on dharma. Kama is said to be the fruit of artha."
  
• "Dharma must not be made to decline, but nor should one come under the subjugation of the enemy." 

• "If the king's treasury is exhausted, his army will decline." 

• "It is rare to find a petitioner who is satisfied with what he has got."
  
• "It is rarer to find a person who does not disrespect a petitioner." 

• "There is nothing that is as emaciated as hope."

• "The dharma of kshatriyas is special. ... All the other dharmas are immersed in this dharma."
  
• "Dharma of vaishyas - donations, studying, the performance of sacrifices, and the accumulation of wealth."
  
• "If one is destroyed, one can perform no act of dharma." 

• "Those who are engaged in such conduct only establish that they are born from perverse ejac***." 

• "When those who are separated are brought together, there is neither love, nor affection."

• "The greedy hate the poor and the weak hate the spirited. Stupid people hate learned ones and poor people hate the wealthy."

• "Some are punished for their crimes. .. But many more virtuous are harmed because of false accusations." 

• "Lineage is created by conduct. The ashrama is not an indicator of dharma." 

• "... when one consorts with wicked people, uttering a lie is superior to speaking the with." 

• "There're are some who say that dharma is that which is laid down in the shruti..but.. everything is not laid down there."

• "One good acharya equal to ten learned brahmanas. One upadhyaya is superior to ten acharyas and the father is superior to yen upadhyayas."
  
• "However, a mother is superior to ten fathers." 

• "Signs of wicked people. ... When others praise you, he is silent and reluctant. ... He is gracious in public and ungracious in private."

• "Use sama, dana, bheda and danda. One should not use these one at a time." 

• "Large numbers of the enemy should not be immediately killed." 

• "If one desires to kill an enemy, one should not disclose this." 

• "After striking, one should show compassion and sorrow and weep a little." 

•  "Even if one has to strike, one should speak pleasant words before striking." 

• "When the enemy is delighted at your hardship, I think it is a more severe sorrow than death."
  
•  "Destiny determines this in advance and men are goaded by time." 

• "You must know about two kinds of wisdom - the straight and the crooked." 

• "Impose taxes so that both the king and the producer have a share in the outcome of the work."

• "It should never be such that there is no incentive for the work and the outcome."

• "Like a turtle draws in its limbs, one must protect one's own weaknesses." 

• "There are are virtuous ones who are constrained by a sense of shame." 

• "When many are guilty of the same crime, they can unite and blunt a thorn." 

• "Whether a person is paid or is not paid, if he comes and tells you that the royal treasury is being destroyed and depleted by a minister, you must hear him in secret and protect him from ministers"
  
• "Ministers tend to kill such informants. All those who destroy the treasury work collectively against the one who protects the treasury."

• "You (Krishna) obtained the prosperity for yourself, but gave it away to another. Like food that had been vomited out, you are incapable of taking it back." 

• "Blind trust can completely destroy dharma and artha. However, not trusting anyone is also worse than death." 

• "A brahmana who does not study and a king who does not protect are ... useless..., like a cloud that does not rain." 

• "If a brahmana becomes a thief in a king's kingdom, learned people think it is the king's crime." 

• "A kingdom is always based on proper dispute resolution." 

• "The king is the creator of krita yuga, treta and dvapara. The king is the reason behind the fourth yuga too." 

• "A king should have nothing to do with someone who can neither help him nor hurt him." 

• "A king makes a person confident. A king makes a small man great." 

• "When a person is disrespected by his own people, the enemy disregards him." 

• "A kingdom without an Indra is weak and is overwhelmed by bandits." 

• "The learned day that someone who is not engaged in his own talks is not to be trusted." 

More quotes, 

© 2017, Abhinav Agarwal (अभिनव अग्रवाल). All rights reserved.