Shloka 33
Mantri-Parīkṣā — Testing Ministers, Securing Counsel, and Ethical Criteria for Advisers (अध्याय ८४)
तानि तान्यनुरक्तेन शक््यानि हि तितिक्षितुम् मन्त्रिणां च भवेत् क्रोधो विस्फूर्जितमिवाशने:
tāni tāny anuraktena śakyāni hi titikṣitum | mantriṇāṁ ca bhavet krodho visphūrjitam ivāśaneḥ ||
Bhishma said: Only a minister who is genuinely devoted to the king can patiently endure those various harsh behaviors. But when ministers are without affection, their anger flares up—terrible like the burst of a thunderbolt—bringing danger to the ruler and disorder to governance.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Effective counsel depends not only on competence but on loyal goodwill. A minister who has genuine affection can tolerate a ruler’s difficult conduct; without that bond, resentment becomes fierce and destabilizing, harming both king and state.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma warns Yudhiṣṭhira about the emotional foundations of governance: how a king’s treatment of advisers interacts with their loyalty, and how anger in alienated ministers can erupt like a thunderbolt.