Shloka 14
Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma
यथा सुमधुरौ दम्यौ सुदान्तौ साधुवाहिनौ | धुरमुद्यम्य वहतास्तथा वर्तेत वै नृप:
yathā sumadhurau damyau sudāntau sādhuvāhinau | dhuram udyamya vahatas tathā varteta vai nṛpaḥ ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Kung paanong ang dalawang batang baka—kaaya-aya ang anyo, sanay sa pagsasanay, lubos na disiplinado, at kayang magdala ng pamatok—ay inaangat ang bigat sa kanilang mga balikat at dinadala ito nang matatag at maayos, gayon din dapat kumilos ang hari: marapat niyang gampanan at pangasiwaan nang mahusay ang bigat ng kanyang kaharian.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must be trained, self-controlled, and capable—like well-broken oxen—so that he can steadily carry the heavy responsibility of protecting and administering the kingdom.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on rājadharma (the duties of kings). Here he uses a practical agrarian metaphor—two disciplined oxen bearing a yoke—to illustrate how a king should manage the weight of statecraft.