Brahmanas are said to be the refuge of the king while his
power suffers decay. A wise king seeks the enhancement of his power by
means of the power of the Brahmanas. When the king, crowned with victory,
seeks the re-establishment of peace, all the orders then betake
themselves to their respective duties. When robbers, breaking through all
restraints, spread devastation around, all the orders may take up arms.
By so doing they incur no sin, O Yudhishthira!'
"Yudhishthira said, 'If all the Kshatriyas become hostile towards the
Brahmanas, who then will protect the Brahmanas and their Vedas? What then
should be the duty of the Brahmanas and who will be their refuge?'
"Bhishma said, 'By penances, by Brahmacharya, by weapons, and by
(physical) might, applied with or without the aid of deceit, the
Kshatriyas should be subjugated. If the Kshatriya misconducts himself,
especially towards Brahmanas, the Vedas themselves will subjugate them.
The Kshatriyas have sprung from the Brahmanas. Fire has sprung from
water; the Kshatriya from the Brahmana; and iron from stone. The energy
of fire, the Kshatriya, and iron, are irresistible. But when these come
into contact with the sources of their origin, their force becomes
neutralised. When iron strikes stone, or fire battles with water, or the
Kshatriya becomes hostile to the Brahmana, then the strength of each of
those three becomes destroyed. Thus, O Yudhishthira, the energy and
might, howsoever great and irresistible, of Kshatriyas become quelled as
soon as they are directed against the Brahmanas.
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