Shloka 40
Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)
स्थाण्वश्मकण्टकवतीं सिंहव्याप्रसमाकुलाम् | दुरासदां दुष्प्रसहां गुहां हैमवतीमिव,जैसे हिमालयकी कन्दरामें ढूँठ, पत्थर और काँटे होते हैं, उसके भीतर सिंह और व्याप्रोंका भी निवास होता है तथा इन्हीं सब कारणोंसे उसमें प्रवेश पाना या रहना अत्यन्त कठिन एवं दुःसह हो जाता है, उसी प्रकार दुष्ट अधिकारियोंके कारण इस राज्यमें किसी भले मनुष्यका रहना मुश्किल है
bhīṣma uvāca | sthāṇv-aśma-kaṇṭakavatīṃ siṃha-vyāghra-samākulām | durāsadāṃ duṣprasahāṃ guhāṃ haimavatīm iva |
Wika ni Bhishma: “Gaya ng isang yungib sa Himalaya na punô ng mga tuod, bato, at tinik—at pinamumugaran pa ng mga leon at tigre—na napakahirap pasukin at napakahirap tiisin, gayon din ang kahariang ito: dahil sa masasamang opisyal, nagiging lugar ito na hindi kayang panirahan nang payapa ng sinumang mabuting tao.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A kingdom becomes unlivable for the virtuous when administration is dominated by wicked officials; the ruler’s duty is to ensure governance that protects and enables good people rather than driving them away.
In Bhishma’s instruction on statecraft and dharma in the Shanti Parva, he uses a vivid simile—an inhospitable Himalayan cave—to describe how oppressive, corrupt authority makes a realm dangerous and unbearable for decent citizens.