Shloka 17
Vyavahāra-Śuddhi and Rājadharma: Clean Administration, Counsel, and Proportional Punishment
Chapter 86
कार्येष्वधिकृता: सम्यगकुर्वन्तो नृपानुगा: । आत्मानं पुरत: कृत्वा यान्त्यध: सहपार्थिवा:,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
kāryeṣv adhikṛtāḥ samyag akurvanto nṛpānugāḥ | ātmānaṃ purataḥ kṛtvā yānty adhaḥ saha pārthivāḥ, naraśreṣṭha |
Bhishma said: “O best of men, those who are appointed to public duties—royal attendants and officers—if they do not perform their tasks rightly, and if, putting their own interests first, they fail to deal justly with the people, then they fall downward (into hell) together with the king.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Public authority is a moral trust: kings and their officers must protect and treat subjects justly according to dharma; self-serving governance leads to shared downfall.
In the Shanti Parva dialogue, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on rajadharma, warning that rulers and appointed officials who neglect righteous administration and prioritize themselves over the people incur ruin together.