Shloka 152
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
अमुक्तो मानसैर्दु:खैरिच्छाद्वेषभयोद्धवै: । शिरोरोगादिभी रोगैस्तथैवाभिनियन्तृभि:
amukto mānasair duḥkhair icchādveṣabhayodbhavaiḥ | śirorogādibhī rogais tathaivābhiniyantṛbhiḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: A king is never truly free from mental sufferings born of desire, aversion, and fear. Likewise, bodily ailments—such as headaches and the like—keep him constrained on every side, continually agitating him. The teaching underscores that sovereignty does not guarantee inner freedom; unchecked passions and anxieties become a ruler’s constant bondage.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power and kingship do not remove suffering; desire, aversion, and fear generate persistent mental distress, and even bodily illness further binds a ruler. The implied ethical counsel is mastery over passions and fears as essential to true freedom and good governance.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma continues advising about the burdens of rulership, emphasizing that a king remains surrounded by inner anxieties and physical ailments that keep him constrained and restless.