Shloka 159
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
सप्ताड्श्चैव संघातस्त्रयश्चान्ये नूपोत्तम | सम्भूय दशवर्गो<5यं भुड्धक्ते राज्यं हि राजवत्
saptāṅgaś caiva saṅghātas trayaś cānye nṛpottama | sambhūya daśavargo 'yaṃ bhunkte rājyaṃ hi rājavat ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Ô le meilleur des rois, les sept membres constitutifs de l’État, joints à trois puissances supplémentaires, se combinent pour former cet ordre décuple du royaume. Unis, ces dix participent à la jouissance et au fonctionnement de la souveraineté, comme s’ils étaient le roi lui-même.»
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kingship is not a solitary power: the state is an integrated system. When the seven limbs of the realm and three key powers act in unity, they collectively sustain and ‘share’ the work and fruits of sovereignty; therefore a ruler must govern through coordination, not mere personal will.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rajadharma, Bhishma addresses the king and explains a structural model of the kingdom: seven standard constituents plus three additional powers together form a tenfold framework that operates the state as effectively as the king.