Shloka 14
विद्रवेच्चैव राष्ट्र ते श्येनात् पक्षिगणा इव । परिस्रवेच्च सततं नौर्विशीर्णेव सागरे,फिर तो तुम्हें अन्यायी मानकर राष्ट्रकी सारी प्रजा तुमसे उसी प्रकार दूर भागेगी, जैसे बाज पक्षीके डरसे दूसरे पक्षी भागते हैं तथा जैसे टूटी हुई नाव समुद्रमें कहाँकी कहाँ बह जाती है, उसी प्रकार प्रजा धीरे-धीरे तुम्हारा राज्य छोड़कर अन्यत्र चली जायगी
vidravec caiva rāṣṭra te śyenāt pakṣigaṇā iva | parisravec ca satataṁ naur viśīrṇeva sāgare ||
Bhīṣma disse: “Se agires injustamente, o teu próprio reino fugirá de ti — como bandos de aves que se dispersam com medo do falcão. E o teu domínio continuará a escapar-te, sem cessar, como um barco despedaçado no oceano, levado e perdido. Assim, o povo, julgando-te injusto, abandonará pouco a pouco o teu governo e irá para outro lugar.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s legitimacy rests on dharma: injustice makes subjects lose trust and disperse. Political power is not merely held by force; it depends on the willing cohesion of the people, which collapses when the king is perceived as adhārmika.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on rājadharma. Here he warns that if the king behaves unjustly, the realm will ‘flee’—subjects will scatter like birds from a hawk, and the kingdom will steadily slip away like a broken boat drifting in the sea.