Shloka 16
Vyavahāra-Śuddhi and Rājadharma: Clean Administration, Counsel, and Proportional Punishment
Chapter 86
अथ यो<थधर्मत: पाति राजामात्योडथ वा55त्मज: । धर्मासने संनियुक्तो धर्ममूले नरर्षभ,नरश्रेष्ठ! धर्म ही जिसकी जड़ है, उस धर्मासन अथवा न्यायासनपर बैठकर जो राजा, मन्त्री अथवा राजकुमार धर्म-पूर्वक प्रजाकी रक्षा नहीं करता तथा राजाका अनुसरण करनेवाले राज्यके दूसरे अधिकारी भी यदि अपनेको सामने रखकर प्रजाके साथ उचित बर्ताव नहीं करते हैं तो वे राजाके साथ ही स्वयं भी नरकमें गिर जाते हैं
atha yo ’tha dharmataḥ pāti rājāmātyo ’tha vā ’tmajaḥ | dharmāsane saṁniyukto dharmamūle nararṣabha narāśreṣṭha |
Bhishma said: “O bull among men, O best of men—whether it be the king, his minister, or his son: if, though appointed to sit upon the seat of Dharma (the court of justice) whose very foundation is righteousness, he does not protect the people in accordance with Dharma, then he fails in his charge. And if the other officers of the realm who follow the king likewise do not place themselves under the rule of fairness and deal properly with the subjects, they too fall—along with the king—into hell.”
भीष्म उवाच