Shloka 41
अथ येषामधर्मज्ञो राजा भवति नास्तिक: । न ते सुखं प्रबुध्यन्ति न सुखं प्रस्वपन्ति च
atha yeṣām adharmajño rājā bhavati nāstikaḥ | na te sukhaṃ prabudhyante na sukhaṃ prasvapanti ca ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Di mana raja jahil tentang dharma dan menafikan kepercayaan yang benar, rakyat di bawahnya tidak menemui ketenteraman—ketika jaga tiada bahagia, ketika tidur pun tiada damai.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s dharma-knowledge and moral orientation directly determine public well-being: when the king is ignorant of dharma and rejects right principles, society loses peace both in daily life and in rest.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance. Here he states a consequence of bad rulership: under an adharma-ignorant, nāstika king, the subjects cannot experience happiness either while awake or asleep.