Shloka 32
Gaṇānāṃ Vṛttiḥ — On the Sustenance and Cohesion of Assemblies
Gaṇa-nīti
तस्मात् संघातमेवाहुर्गणानां शरणं महत्
tasmāt saṅghātam evāhur gaṇānāṃ śaraṇaṃ mahat | jāti-kula-samānatve 'pi na sarveṣām udyogo buddhir rūpa-sampattiś ca samā bhavati | śatravaḥ gaṇa-rājyeṣu bheda-buddhiṃ janayitvā kecid dhana-dānenāpi sarva-saṅghe bhedaṃ kurvanti | tasmāt saṅgha-baddhatā eva gaṇa-nāgarikāṇāṃ mahāśrayaḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“因此，唯有共同的联合本身，才被称为诸族之大庇护。纵使众人同出一族、同承一脉，也不可能在勤勉、智慧，或美貌与富贵之资上尽皆一致。仇敌在gaṇa的公民之间制造分裂之念，又以财贿收买少数人，便能使整个同盟离散。故而，牢牢守住团结，乃gaṇa公民最高的依凭。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The chief protection of a republic or clan-polity is solidarity: even if citizens share birth and lineage, natural differences in ability and resources make them vulnerable to factionalism, which enemies exploit through sowing division and bribing a few; therefore unity is the highest safeguard.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhishma advises Yudhiṣṭhira on governance and public stability, warning that hostile forces commonly fracture republics by creating internal factions and buying influence, and he urges maintaining a tightly bound confederation.