Shloka 15
Vyavahāra-Śuddhi and Rājadharma: Clean Administration, Counsel, and Proportional Punishment
Chapter 86
प्रजा: पालयतो<सम्यगधर्मेणेह भूपते: । हार्द भयं सम्भवति स्वर्गक्षास्य विरुद्धयते,जो राजा अन्याय एवं अधर्मपूर्वक प्रजाका पालन करता है, उसके हृदयमें भय बना रहता है तथा उसका परलोक भी बिगड़ जाता है
prajāḥ pālayato 'samyag dharmeṇeha bhūpateḥ | hārda-bhayaṃ sambhavati svargakṣāsyā viruddhyate ||
Bhishma said: “O king, when a ruler governs his subjects improperly and not in accordance with dharma, an inward fear arises in his heart; and his hope of heaven and the welfare of the next world is thwarted.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king who governs without dharma cannot remain inwardly secure: wrongdoing breeds fear in the heart, and it also destroys the ruler’s spiritual merit and prospects in the next world.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhishma is advising the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) that unjust, adharmic rule harms both the ruler’s inner peace and his posthumous welfare.