Shloka 25
Kośārtha-Rājadharma: Ethical Revenue Collection and Social Regulation (कोशार्थ-राजधर्मः)
ये भूतान्यनुगृह्लन्ति वर्धयन्ति च ये प्रजा: । तेते राष्ट्रेषु वर्तन्तां मा भूतानामभावका:
ye bhūtāny anugṛhlanti vardhayanti ca ye prajāḥ | te te rāṣṭreṣu vartantāṃ mā bhūtānām abhāvakāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “May those who show compassion to living beings and who foster the welfare and growth of the people continue to dwell and flourish in their kingdoms; may there never be any decline or disappearance of living beings because of them.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler (and, by extension, any leader) should be compassionate toward all beings and actively promote the prosperity of the people; such protectors deserve stability and continuance in their realms, and they must never become agents of harm or depletion to life.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on rājadharma (the duties of kings). Here he offers a benediction and ethical criterion: those who protect creatures and nurture their subjects should endure in their kingdoms, not turning into destroyers of life.