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 ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “O Yudhishthira, ang mga pagkukulang na ito—at iba pa—ay tiyak na lilitaw kapag ang hari’y nagiging labis na malambot ang loob at mahilig sa walang saysay na katuwaan. Kapag ang katatagan ay napalitan ng paglalambing at pagbibiro, dumudulas ang pamamahala at sumusunod ang iba pang bisyo.”
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.