Shloka 61
राजधर्मप्रश्नः — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry into Rājadharma (Śānti-parva 56)
एते चैवापरे चैव दोषा: प्रादुर्भवन्त्युत । नृपतौ मार्दवोपेते हर्षुले च युधिष्ठिर,युधिष्ठि! राजा जब परिहासशील और कोमल-स्वभावका हो जाता है, तब ये ऊपर बताये हुए तथा दूसरे दोष भी प्रकट होते हैं
ete caivāpare caiva doṣāḥ prādurbhavanti uta | nṛpatau mārdavopete harṣule ca yudhiṣṭhira ||
ಓ ಯುಧಿಷ್ಠಿರ! ರಾಜನು ಅತಿಯಾಗಿ ಮೃದುಸ್ವಭಾವನಾಗಿ, ಹಾಸ್ಯಪ್ರಿಯನಾಗಿ ಬಿಟ್ಟಾಗ, ಇವುಗಳೇ ಅಲ್ಲದೆ ಇನ್ನೂ ಅನೇಕ ದೋಷಗಳು ಹೊರಹೊಮ್ಮುತ್ತವೆ.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must balance kindness with firmness; when a king becomes excessively soft and playful, governance weakens and multiple faults naturally arise, harming order and dharma.
In the Shanti Parva discourse on rajadharma, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhishthira, warning that a king’s indulgent, joking temperament and over-gentleness become causes for the emergence of further political and moral defects.