Shloka 141
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
स्त्रीषु क्रीडाविहारेषु नित्यमस्यास्वतन्त्रता । मन्त्रे चामात्यसमितौ कुतस्तस्य स्वतन्त्रता,स्त्री-सहवास, क्रीड़ा और विहारमें भी उसे सदा परतन्त्रता रहती है। मन्त्रियोंकी सभामें बैठकर मन्त्रणा करते समय भी उसे कहाँ स्वतन्त्रता रहती है
strīṣu krīḍā-vihāreṣu nityam asyāsvatantratā | mantre cāmātya-samitau kutaḥ tasya svatantratā ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „In Dingen der Frauen, im Spiel und in Vergnügungen und Ausfahrten ist er stets unfrei, von anderen abhängig. Selbst wenn er im Rat berät, sitzend in der Versammlung der Minister — wo ist da seine Unabhängigkeit?“
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma stresses that a ruler’s ‘independence’ is largely illusory: personal desires and social entanglements, and even the necessities of ministerial counsel, bind him. Ethical governance therefore requires restraint and wise reliance on proper advisers rather than indulgence or the fantasy of absolute autonomy.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma continues advising on the realities of kingship. He points out that a king is constrained both by private life (pleasures and attachments) and by public duty (deliberation with ministers), underscoring the disciplined, accountable nature of rule.