Shloka 10
Book 12, Chapter 93 — Vāmadeva’s Counsel to King Vasumanā on Dharmic Kingship (धर्मप्रधान-राजधर्मोपदेशः)
जो दुष्ट एवं पापिष्ठ मन्त्रियोंकी सहायतासे धर्मको हानि पहुँचाता है, वह सब लोगोंका वध्य हो जाता है और अपने परिवारके साथ ही शीघ्र संकटमें पड़ जाता है ।।
yo duṣṭa evaṁ pāpiṣṭha-mantriṇāṁ sahāyatā dharmaṁ haniṁ prāpayan karoti, sa sarva-lokānāṁ vadhyo bhavati sva-parivāreṇa saha ca śīghraṁ saṅkaṭe patati. arthānām ananuṣṭhātā kāmacārī vikatthanaḥ, api sarvāṁ mahīṁ labdhvā kṣipram eva vinaśyati.
Vāmadeva déclare : «Le souverain qui, avec l’appui de ministres pervers et des plus pécheurs, blesse et mine le dharma devient, aux yeux de tous, digne d’être mis à mort ; et il tombe vite dans le malheur avec sa famille. De même, le roi qui ne s’applique pas à l’accomplissement juste de l’artha—aux ressources et au bon gouvernement—mais agit au gré de ses caprices et se vante avec arrogance, périt promptement, fût-il maître de toute la terre.»
वामदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king’s legitimacy depends on protecting dharma and practicing disciplined statecraft: if he undermines dharma through corrupt advisers, or neglects the proper pursuit of artha while acting whimsically and boastfully, he becomes publicly condemnable and quickly meets ruin along with his household.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Vāmadeva addresses principles of rulership, warning that association with evil ministers and negligent, self-indulgent governance leads to swift political and personal destruction, even for a monarch who has gained vast dominion.