Rājadharma
idea · 1 work · 6 mentions · 8 anchored passages
rājadharma · statecraft · counsel · duties of kingship · duty of a king · duty of a protecting king · protector of the dharma of his people · the king as root of dharma · the king's dharma
spoken of as
1 expressionKingship and its duty“rājadharma”1 mention
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa (Sanskrit)
"The learned, in matters of artha or kāma not explicitly covered in the śāstras, determine dharma by following the example of the king, O delight of the eastern people.
in the texts
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa
The doctrine of a king's eternal duty, including justified violence against the unrighteous, invoked to override Rāma's scruple.
"This is the eternal duty of those charged with the burden of kingship.
"You must feel no scruple on account of the slaying of a woman, O best of men — a king's son must do what is needed for the welfare of the four social orders.
"By these and many other great-souled royal heroes, women devoted to unrighteousness have been slain by the best of men.