Shloka 16
सुरभि–इन्द्रसंवादः
Surabhi–Indra Dialogue as a Governance Exemplar
मेढी भूत: स्वयं राजन निग्रहे प्रग्रहे भवान् । किमर्थमनयं घोरमुत्पद्यन्तमुपेक्षसे,महाराज! तुम स्वयं इन सबको बाँधकर नियन्त्रणमें रखनेके लिये खंभेके समान हो; फिर पैदा होते हुए इस घोर अन्यायकी क्यों उपेक्षा कर रहे हो
meḍhī bhūtaḥ svayaṃ rājan nigrahe pragrahe bhavān | kim artham anayaṃ ghoraṃ utpadyantam upekṣase mahārāja ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Maharaja, ikaw mismo ay nakatindig na parang matibay na haligi na pangtali at pampigil—may kakayahang magpanatili ng kaayusan sa pamamagitan ng paghigpit at pagluwag. Bakit nga, O dakilang hari, ipinagwawalang-bahala mo ang kakila-kilabot na kawalang-katarungang ito habang ito’y umuusbong?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler (or any moral agent with authority) must not remain indifferent when adharma begins to arise. Possessing the capacity to restrain and regulate (nigraha–pragraha) creates a duty to intervene against injustice rather than tolerate it.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses a king directly, using the image of a tethering-post to stress the king’s stabilizing power. He challenges the king’s passivity, asking why he is overlooking a grave wrongdoing that is presently emerging.