Shloka 3
Vāmadeva’s Rājadharma: Norm-Setting, Counsel, and the Prevention of Rāṣṭra-Vināśa (वामदेव-प्रोक्तं राजधर्मम्)
यद् वृत्तमुपजीवन्ति प्रकृतिस्थस्य मानवा: । तदेव विषमस्थस्य स्वजनो<पि न मृष्यते
yad vṛttam upajīvanti prakṛtisthasya mānavāḥ | tadeva viṣamasthasya svajano 'pi na mṛṣyate ||
Vāmadeva said: “The very conduct by which people sustain themselves when a man stands in his natural, prosperous condition—indeed, even others take refuge in that same conduct—becomes intolerable when that man falls into adversity; then even his own kin cannot bear it.”
वामदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Social approval is unstable: the same lifestyle or behavior admired and relied upon in times of prosperity can be condemned in adversity, even by one’s own relatives. The verse cautions against measuring dharma by popularity and urges steadiness and discernment in conduct.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, the sage Vāmadeva offers a reflective maxim about how people’s tolerance changes with circumstances, highlighting the fickleness of social and familial support when someone falls into hardship.