Shloka 10
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
आकिंचन्यं च राज्यं च तुलया समतोलयम् | अत्यरिच्यत दारिद्रयं राज्यादपि गुणाधिकम्
ākiñcanyaṁ ca rājyaṁ ca tulayā samatolayam | atyaricyata dāridryaṁ rājyād api guṇādhikam ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: «Puse en la balanza del discernimiento la pobreza —el no poseer nada— y la realeza. La pobreza pesó más que la realeza, pues es más rica en virtudes incluso que el poder del trono.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that freedom from possessions (ākiñcanya), even when it appears as poverty, can be ethically superior to kingship because it supports humility, restraint, and detachment—virtues that power often endangers.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right living, Bhīṣma offers a reflective comparison: he ‘weighs’ sovereignty against non-possession and concludes that the latter is heavier in moral worth.