Shloka 35
Mantri-Parīkṣā — Testing Ministers, Securing Counsel, and Ethical Criteria for Advisers (अध्याय ८४)
अनुजुस्त्वनुरक्तो5पि सम्पन्नश्वेतरैर्गुणै: । राज्ञ: प्रज्ञानयुक्तोडपि न मन्त्र श्रोतुमहति
anujuṣṭv anurakto 'pi sampannaś cānyair guṇaiḥ | rājñaḥ prajñāna-yukto 'pi na mantraṃ śrotum arhati ||
Bhishma said: Even if a person is close to the king and devoted to him, even if he is endowed with other virtues and is intelligent, he is still not fit to hear the king’s confidential counsel if he lacks a straightforward, guileless disposition.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Loyalty, virtues, and intelligence are insufficient qualifications for hearing a king’s secret counsel; without straightforwardness and inner simplicity, a person is unfit for confidential deliberations because secrecy requires integrity, not merely capability.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs on rajadharma (the duties and policies of kings). Here he lays down a criterion for who may be admitted to the king’s private consultations, warning that even trusted and capable associates must be excluded if their nature is not guileless.