Shloka 32
मृदु-तीक्ष्ण-नीति तथा दुष्टलक्षण-विज्ञानम्
Measured Policy and the Recognition of Malicious Disposition
न हाातो दुष्करं कर्म किंचिदस्ति सुरोत्तम । यथा विविधवृत्तानामैश्वर्यममराधिप,देवेश्वर! सुरश्रेष्ठ! नाना प्रकारके व्यवहारचतुर लोगोंके ऐश्वर्यपर शासन करना जितना कठिन काम है, उससे बढ़कर दुष्कर कर्म दूसरा कोई नहीं है
na hi ato duṣkaraṁ karma kiñcid asti surottama | yathā vividhavṛttānām aiśvaryam amarādhipa devēśvara suraśreṣṭha ||
ビーシュマは言った。「おお、神々のうち最勝なる御方よ。これより難しい務めはない。すなわち、気質も振る舞いもさまざまな人々の上に、主権の威をもって統べ治めることである。世故に通じ、心のありようも多様な者たちを治めることは、いかなる事業にも勝って困難である。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the hardest duty of a ruler is not conquest or ritual, but the ethical and practical challenge of governing people with varied dispositions and behaviors; true sovereignty requires discernment, restraint, and skill in dealing with diversity.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma addresses the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) and, by invoking epithets of the lord of the gods (Indra), emphasizes that administering power over a heterogeneous society is an exceptionally difficult responsibility.