Shloka 18
Śaṅkha–Likhita Upākhyāna: Daṇḍa, Confession, and the Purification of Kingship (शङ्ख-लिखितोपाख्यानम्)
व्यवहारेषु धर्मेषु योक्तव्याश्व॒ बहुशुता: । (प्रमाणज्ञा महीपाल न्यायशास्त्रावलम्बिन: । वेदार्थतत्त्वविद् राज॑स्तर्कशास्त्रबहुश्रुता: ।।
vyavahāreṣu dharmeṣu yoktavyāś ca bahuśrutāḥ | pramāṇajñā mahīpāla nyāyaśāstrāvalambinaḥ | vedārthatattvavido rājas tarkaśāstrabahuśrutāḥ || mantre ca vyavahāre ca niyoktavyā vijānatā | guṇayukte 'pi naikasmin viśvaset vicakṣaṇaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : Dans les affaires de loi et de dharma, le roi doit nommer des hommes d’un vaste savoir — ceux qui connaissent les moyens de preuve valides, qui s’appuient sur la science du droit, qui saisissent le sens véritable du Veda et qui sont bien formés au raisonnement. Un souverain clairvoyant doit employer de tels connaisseurs tant au conseil qu’à l’administration. Et même si un seul homme paraît richement pourvu de vertus, le sage ne doit pas remettre toute sa confiance à une seule personne.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler should staff counsel and administration with broadly educated experts—skilled in standards of proof, jurisprudence, Vedic meaning, and disciplined reasoning—and should avoid concentrating trust and authority in a single individual, however virtuous.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous governance, Vaiśampāyana relays counsel directed to a king: how to choose qualified advisers and officials for legal and administrative work, emphasizing expertise and prudent distribution of trust.