12.121
Yudhiṣṭhira said.
This is the eternal king's duty spoken by the grandsire. The Lord is the great chastiser; in punishment, everything is established.
Especially of the deities, sages, ancestors, great souls, yakṣas, rākṣasas, piśācas, and mortals.
O Lord, it is said that among all living beings in the world, even among animals, the all-pervading and greatly powerful punishment is superior.
Thus, as you have said, all moving and unmoving beings are punishable. The world, consisting of gods, demons, and humans, is seen to be attached.
O best of the Bharatas, I wish to know this in reality: What is punishment, of what kind is punishment, of what form, and what is its ultimate aim?
Of what nature is he, of what kind, in how many forms, and how is he the lord? How does that rod of punishment, being of attentive nature, remain awake among the subjects?
Who is it that keeps watch over this former and later, protecting it? Who is known as the former, and who is the later called punishment? What is the state in which punishment should exist, and what is considered its course?
Bhīṣma said.
Listen, O descendant of Kuru, to what punishment is to be administered and how; for upon it alone, here, everything depends.
O great king, the term 'dharma' is designated as legal procedure. Its loss would not occur among those with attentive minds in the world. Therefore, the status of being a legal procedure is ascribed to legal procedure for this reason.
O king, Manu also declared this from the beginning: Only he who, with impartiality towards those he likes or dislikes, protects his subjects properly with well-administered punishment, is truly righteous.
Now, this statement was previously spoken by Manu in ancient times; and the birth was also declared by Vasiṣṭha as the great statement of Brahmā.
This statement was spoken earlier; therefore, it is known as the prior statement. And because the transaction is narrated, it is called a transaction here.
The three aims of life—dharma, artha, and kāma—always proceed from proper administration of punishment. Indeed, fate is the supreme punishment, which in form is like fire with an upraised flame.
He is dark like the petal of a blue lotus, has four fangs and four arms; eight feet, one eye, conical ears, and hair standing upwards.
Daṇḍa, who is always difficult to resist, assumes this terrible form: matted hair, two tongues, copper mouth, and covered with a lion's skin.
Sword, mace, bow, spear, trident, club, arrow, pestle, axe, discus, lance, staff, pike, and javelins.
Whatever weapons exist here, it is punishment alone, the soul of all, that truly moves embodied in the world.
The rod acts by breaking, cutting, hurting, severing, tearing, splitting, striking, and attacking.
He is the sword, the destroyer, the embodiment of righteousness, one with a sharp path, difficult to approach; he contains prosperity, is victorious, the ruler, the regulator of conduct, and ever wakeful.
The treatise, the Brāhmaṇa-mantra, and the teacher, having gone before the speech; the protector of dharma, the imperishable, the deity, the one who pursues truth, the one who pursues the eternal, and the planet.
O Yudhiṣṭhira, these are the names of Daṇḍa: Asaṅga (unattached), Rudratnaya (son of Rudra), Manujyeṣṭha (eldest among men), and Śivaṅkara (bestower of auspiciousness), as have been mentioned.
Indeed, punishment is none other than Lord Viṣṇu, and sacrifice is Nārāyaṇa, the supreme master; the great person who eternally bears the great form is called the Mahāpuruṣa.
As stated, Lakṣmī is called the daughter of Brahmā, policy is Sarasvatī; the science of punishment is the sustainer of the world, for punishment indeed takes many forms.
Both meaning and non-meaning, happiness and sorrow, righteousness and unrighteousness, strength and weakness, misfortune and fortune, merit and demerit, and qualities and faults exist together.
Desire and absence of desire, seasons and months, night and day, moments, displeasure and pleasure, joy and anger, tranquility and self-restraint — all these are part of life.
Divine will and human effort, liberation and bondage, fear and fearlessness, violence and non-violence, austerity, sacrifice, restraint, and both poison and its opposite.
The end, beginning, and middle of actions, their elaboration; arrogance, negligence, pride, hypocrisy, fortitude, policy, and impropriety.
O Bhārata, incapacity and capacity, pride and obstinacy, expenditure and non-expenditure, humility and liberality, time and untimely actions—these pairs are to be understood as opposites.
Untruth, knowledge and ignorance, truth, faith and lack of faith, impotence, effort, gain and loss, victory and defeat—these pairs are described here.
Sharpness and softness, death, arrival and non-arrival, likewise failure and success, in what should and should not be done, in strength and weakness.
Envy and non-envy, righteousness and unrighteousness, shamelessness and absence of shamelessness, modesty, prosperity, and adversity all indeed exist together.
O Kauravya, in this world, the power of punishment manifests in many forms—such as brilliance in action, wisdom, eloquence, and discernment of reality.
If there were no punishment here, people would oppress each other. Out of fear of punishment, they do not strike one another, O Yudhiṣṭhira.
O king, when the people are protected by the rod (punishment) day after day, they make the king prosper in this world; therefore, punishment is the ultimate means.
O lord of men, it is by truth that dharma is established and abides in the Brāhmaṇas, and thus the world is quickly set in order.
Those twice-born who are endowed with dharma are excellent, and those endowed with the Veda become so; sacrifice arose from the Vedas, and sacrifice pleases the deities.
The pleased deities always offer to Indra; Śakra (Indra) gives food, favoring these creatures.
The vital breaths of all beings are always established in food. Therefore, creatures are sustained. The rod of punishment remains vigilant among them as well.
Thus, the purpose and function of punishment has become the duty of the Kṣatriya; protecting the people, he always remains vigilant, being well-established and imperishable.
He is called by eight names: 'Lord', 'Person', 'Life-breath', 'Essence', 'Wealth', 'Lord of Creatures', 'Soul of Beings', and 'Living Being'.
He who does not inflict punishment, to him sovereignty is certainly assured only when he is always endowed with strength and policy of fivefold nature.
Family, physical power, wealth, ministers, and wisdom are said to be strengths; and, O Yudhiṣṭhira, there is another strength that can be acquired by eight kinds of means.
Elephants, horses, chariots, infantry, boats, auxiliary troops, guides, and spies—these eight are considered the components of an army.
But those who are associated with the eight-limbed yoked chariots, elephants, elephant-riders, horse-riders, foot-soldiers, counselors, and suppliers of provisions;
Mendicants, judges, astrologers, soothsayers, the treasury, friends, grain, and all implements.
The wise know that the body of the kingdom consists of seven constituents and eight limbs; among these, punishment is itself a limb of the kingdom, and punishment is indeed its origin as well.
Punishment, established by the Lord and by effort for the upholding of the Kṣatriya, is of equal essence and is indeed eternal. Among kings, none is more worthy of worship than the upholder of dharma.
Brahman established, for the protection of the worlds and the establishment of one's own dharma, a conduct based on trust in the ruler; thus, another form of conduct arose. Therefore, whoever is seen to possess the characteristic of trust in the ruler is recognized as such.
But, O best of men, practical conduct is said to have the Veda as its essence and to be based on Vedic authority. There is the original (conduct), that prescribed by the śāstra, and also the other.
That punishment which is declared as characterized by the authority's command should be understood not as being with the king, but only as that which is characterized by the certainty of punishment.
Even what is recognized as based on punishment and certainty is regarded as conduct. And that conduct which is recognized is of the nature of the subject matter of the Veda.
He whose self is born of the Veda, who discerns qualities, is dharma. The conviction of dharma arises just as adharma arises among those whose selves are purified.
Yudhishthira, whose conduct is righteous, who protects his subjects, and is ordained by Brahman, truly supports the three worlds and is of true essence, increasing prosperity.
That which is called punishment is not considered eternal conduct by us. The conduct that is observed is what we have heard to be dharma. The Veda itself is indeed dharma, and dharma is the true path.
Brahmā, the lord of creatures, was formerly the grandfather of all. He is the lord of all worlds, including gods, asuras, rākṣasas, men, and serpents; he is the creator and the maker of all beings.
Therefore, our conduct is characterized by faith in the master. Hence, we have stated this as an example of conduct.
Mother, father, brother, wife, and even the family priest—among kings, no one is exempt from punishment who does not adhere to their own duty.
