Shloka 110
Nāradasya Rājadharma-praśnāḥ
Nārada’s Examination of Royal Ethics
कच्चित्व॑ं वर्जयस्येतान् राजदोषांश्षतुर्दश । प्रायशो यैर्विनश्यन्ति कृतमूलापि पार्थिवा:
kaccit tvaṁ varjayasy etān rājadoṣāṁś caturdaśa | prāyaśo yair vinaśyanti kṛtamūlā api pārthivāḥ ||
Nārada said: “Do you indeed avoid these fourteen faults of kingship—those by which, in most cases, even rulers whose power seems firmly established are brought to ruin?”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Stable power is not a guarantee of safety: a ruler must actively avoid specific governance-vices (rājadoṣa) because they commonly destroy even well-established kingdoms. The verse frames kingship as a discipline of continual self-audit and restraint.
In the Sabha Parva, the sage Nārada addresses Yudhiṣṭhira with a probing ‘kaccit’ question, testing whether he is steering clear of the classic fourteen royal faults that lead to political collapse.