Shloka 11
Karṇa–Sūrya Saṃvāda: Satya, Dāna, and the Amoghā Śakti (कर्ण–सूर्यसंवादः)
“जो राजा अपने मनको काबूमें न रखकर अन्यायमें तत्पर रहता है, उसका आश्रय लेकर उसके अधीन रहनेवाले नगर और देश भी अनीतिपरायण होकर नष्ट हो जाते हैं!
yo rājā svamanasaḥ saṃyamaṃ na kṛtvā anyāye tatparo bhavati, tasya āśrayaṃ labdhvā tasya adhīne vartamānāni nagarāṇi deśāś ca anītiparāyaṇāni bhūtvā vinaśyanti.
Markandeya said: “When a king fails to restrain his own mind and becomes intent on injustice, then the towns and lands that take shelter under him and live subject to his rule also turn toward unrighteous conduct—and, in the end, they are ruined.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s inner discipline is the foundation of just governance: when the king is uncontrolled and committed to injustice, his subjects and institutions imitate that disorder, and the entire polity declines into anīti and ultimately collapses.
Mārkaṇḍeya is delivering a moral instruction within Vana Parva, warning about the social and political contagion of a king’s wrongdoing—how a corrupt ruler’s example and protection lead cities and regions under him to adopt unethical conduct and meet ruin.