Shloka 16
सुरभि–इन्द्रसंवादः
Surabhi–Indra Dialogue as a Governance Exemplar
मेढी भूत: स्वयं राजन निग्रहे प्रग्रहे भवान् । किमर्थमनयं घोरमुत्पद्यन्तमुपेक्षसे,महाराज! तुम स्वयं इन सबको बाँधकर नियन्त्रणमें रखनेके लिये खंभेके समान हो; फिर पैदा होते हुए इस घोर अन्यायकी क्यों उपेक्षा कर रहे हो
meḍhī bhūtaḥ svayaṃ rājan nigrahe pragrahe bhavān | kim artham anayaṃ ghoraṃ utpadyantam upekṣase mahārāja ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「大王よ、あなたご自身は、縛り抑えるための堅固な柱のごとく立っておられる—締めることも緩めることも心得て、事を制する力を持つお方だ。しかるに、なぜこの恐るべき不義が生じつつあるのを、見過ごしておられるのか。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler (or any moral agent with authority) must not remain indifferent when adharma begins to arise. Possessing the capacity to restrain and regulate (nigraha–pragraha) creates a duty to intervene against injustice rather than tolerate it.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses a king directly, using the image of a tethering-post to stress the king’s stabilizing power. He challenges the king’s passivity, asking why he is overlooking a grave wrongdoing that is presently emerging.