Shloka 10
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
आकिंचन्यं च राज्यं च तुलया समतोलयम् | अत्यरिच्यत दारिद्रयं राज्यादपि गुणाधिकम्,“मैंने अकिंचनता तथा राज्यको बुद्धिकी तराजूपर रखकर तौला तो गुणोंमें अधिक होनेके कारण राज्यसे भी अकिंचनताका ही पलड़ा भारी निकला
ākiñcanyaṁ ca rājyaṁ ca tulayā samatolayam | atyaricyata dāridryaṁ rājyād api guṇādhikam ||
Bhīṣma said: “I weighed poverty (the state of having nothing) and kingship on the balance of discernment. Poverty outweighed kingship, for it is richer in virtues even than royal power.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that freedom from possessions (ākiñcanya), even when it appears as poverty, can be ethically superior to kingship because it supports humility, restraint, and detachment—virtues that power often endangers.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right living, Bhīṣma offers a reflective comparison: he ‘weighs’ sovereignty against non-possession and concludes that the latter is heavier in moral worth.