Shloka 31
Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)
देवतेव हि सर्वार्थान् कुर्याद् राजा प्रसादित: । वैश्वानर इव क्रुद्धः समूलमपि निर्दहेत्
devateva hi sarvārthān kuryād rājā prasāditaḥ | vaiśvānara iva kruddhaḥ samūlam api nirdahyet |
Bhīṣma said: When a king is pleased, he can fulfill every aim for his subjects like a beneficent deity. But when angered, he can burn everything down like the all-consuming fire of Vaiśvānara, destroying even what lies at the root.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s favor and wrath have immense consequences: a pleased king can grant prosperity and fulfill legitimate aims, while an angry king can cause total ruin. Therefore, kings must restrain anger and exercise power with dharma, and subjects should understand the gravity of royal disposition.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma advises Yudhiṣṭhira using vivid similes: the king, when gracious, resembles a deity who grants boons; when enraged, he resembles Vaiśvānara-fire that consumes everything down to the roots.