Shloka 12
राजवृत्त-रक्षा-प्रणिधि-षाड्गुण्योपदेशः
Royal Conduct, Protection, Intelligence, and Policy Measures
विमथ्याततिक्रमेरंश्व विषद्यापि परस्परम् | अभावमचिरेणैव गच्छेयुर्नात्र संशय:,राजन! जैसे सूर्य और चन्द्रमाका उदय न होनेपर समस्त प्राणी घोर अन्धकारमें डूब जाते हैं और एक-दूसरेको देख नहीं पाते हैं, जैसे थोड़े जलवाले तालाबमें मत्स्यगण तथा रक्षकरहित उपवनमें पक्षियोंके झुंड परस्पर एक-दूसरेपर बारंबार चोट करते हुए इच्छानुसार विचरण करते हैं, वे कभी तो अपने प्रहारसे दूसरोंको कुचलते और मथते हुए आगे बढ़ जाते हैं और कभी स्वयं दूसरेकी चोट खाकर व्याकुल हो उठते हैं। इस प्रकार आपसमें लड़ते हुए वे थोड़े ही दिनोंमें नष्टप्राय हो जाते हैं, इसमें संदेह नहीं है। इसी तरह राजाके बिना वे सारी प्रजाएँ आपसमें लड़-झगड़कर बात-की-बातमें नष्ट हो जायँगी और बिना चरवाहेके पशुओंकी भाँति दुःखके घोर अन्धकारमें डूब जायँगी
vimathyātatikrameran śva viṣadyāpi parasparam | abhāvam acireṇaiva gaccheyur nātra saṁśayaḥ, rājan |
Vasumanā said: “If they keep striking and overstepping one another, grieving yet still attacking each other in turn, they will quickly fall into ruin—of this there is no doubt, O king. Just as when the sun and moon do not rise, all creatures sink into dreadful darkness and cannot see one another; and just as fish in a shallow pond, or flocks of birds in an unguarded grove, repeatedly wound one another while roaming as they please—sometimes crushing others by their blows, sometimes themselves distressed when struck—so too, fighting among themselves, they soon become all but destroyed. In the same way, without a king, the whole populace will quarrel and fight among themselves and be swiftly ruined, sinking into the dense darkness of suffering like cattle without a herdsman.”
वसुमना उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that a king (lawful authority) is necessary to restrain mutual aggression; without governance, people fall into conflict and rapid ruin, like creatures lost in darkness or animals without a herdsman.
Vasumanā addresses a king and argues for the necessity of rulership by using vivid analogies: darkness without sun and moon, fish in shallow water, and birds in an unguarded grove—each illustrating how, without protection and restraint, beings harm one another and perish.