Shloka 28
राजधर्मः—राष्ट्ररक्षणं, दण्डनीतिः, हयग्रीवोपाख्यानम्
Royal Duty: Protection, Penal Policy, and the Hayagrīva Exemplum
'प्रिय मित्र! स्त्री अथवा पुत्रोंका थोड़ा-सा भी अप्रिय कर दो, फिर स्वयं समझ जाओगे कि कौन किस हेतुसे किस तरह किसके साथ कितना सम्बन्ध रखता है? ।।
priya mitra! strī athavā putrāṇāṁ thoḍā-sā api apriyaṁ kṛtvā punaḥ svayaṁ jñāsyasi—kaḥ kasya hetoḥ kathaṁ kasya saha kiyad-sambandhaṁ dhārayati? ye ca mūḍhatamā loke ye ca buddheḥ paraṁ gatāḥ, ta eva sukham edhante, madhyamaḥ kliśyate janaḥ.
毗耶娑说道：“亲爱的朋友！只要让妻子或儿子们略感不悦，你便会亲自明白：谁与谁仍相系连，以何种方式，至何等程度——又是为了何种动机。在这世间，唯有极愚之人，或已超越寻常智识之境者，方能在快乐中兴盛；居于中等之人，反而是受苦者。”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vyāsa highlights that many relationships are tested by even minor displeasure, revealing hidden motives and conditional attachment. He then contrasts three types: the utterly deluded (who do not reflect and thus feel little inner conflict), the truly transcendent (who have gone beyond ordinary intellect and are inwardly free), and the ‘middle’ person who is neither ignorant nor liberated—therefore caught in anxiety, calculation, and suffering.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa addresses a listener as “dear friend” and offers a practical observation about social and familial bonds: create a small friction with wife or sons and the real texture of relationships becomes evident. He uses this as a springboard for a broader reflection on why different temperaments experience happiness or distress in worldly life.