Shloka 15
Vyavahāra-Śuddhi and Rājadharma: Clean Administration, Counsel, and Proportional Punishment
Chapter 86
प्रजा: पालयतो<सम्यगधर्मेणेह भूपते: । हार्द भयं सम्भवति स्वर्गक्षास्य विरुद्धयते,जो राजा अन्याय एवं अधर्मपूर्वक प्रजाका पालन करता है, उसके हृदयमें भय बना रहता है तथा उसका परलोक भी बिगड़ जाता है
prajāḥ pālayato 'samyag dharmeṇeha bhūpateḥ | hārda-bhayaṃ sambhavati svargakṣāsyā viruddhyate ||
Bhishma dit : «Ô roi, lorsque le souverain gouverne ses sujets d’une manière impropre et non conforme au dharma, une crainte intime naît dans son cœur ; et son espérance du ciel ainsi que le bien de l’au-delà s’en trouvent contrariés.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king who governs without dharma cannot remain inwardly secure: wrongdoing breeds fear in the heart, and it also destroys the ruler’s spiritual merit and prospects in the next world.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhishma is advising the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) that unjust, adharmic rule harms both the ruler’s inner peace and his posthumous welfare.