Shloka 43
यत्र स्त्री यत्र कितवो बालो यत्रानुशासिता । मज्जन्ति तेडवशा राजन् नद्यामश्मप्लवा इव,राजन! जहाँका शासन स्त्री, जुआरी और बालकके हाथमें होता है, वहाँके लोग नदीमें पत्थरकी नावपर बैठनेवालोंकी भाँति विवश होकर विपत्तिके समुद्रमें डूब जाते हैं
yatra strī yatra kitavo bālo yatrānuśāsitā | majjanti te'vaśā rājan nadyām aśmaplavā iva ||
यत्र स्त्री यत्र कितवो बालो यत्रानुशासिता । मज्जन्ति तेऽवशा राजन् नद्यामश्मप्लवा इव ॥
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Governance must rest on mature discernment and self-control; when power is effectively driven by immaturity or vice (symbolized by a child and a gambler) or by improper influence, society becomes helpless and collapses—like trusting a stone boat that cannot float.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura counsels the king during the tense pre-war negotiations. He delivers moral-political instruction (nīti), warning that a kingdom misruled by unfit or destabilizing influences will inevitably plunge its people into disaster.