Shloka 1306
Varṇa-dharma and Rājadharma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Outline (वर्णधर्म-राजधर्म-प्रश्नोत्तरम्)
को हेतुर्यद् वशे तिछेललोको दैवादृते गुणात् । राजेन्द्र! चित्त और क्रियाद्वारा समभाव रखनेवाले राजाका किया हुआ शुभ कर्म प्रजाके भलेके लिये ही होता है। उसके दैवी गुणके सिवा और क्या कारण हो सकता है
ko hetur yad vaśe tiṣṭhel loko daivād ṛte guṇāt | rājendra! citta-kriyābhyāṁ samabhāvaṁ rakṣamāṇasya rājñaḥ kṛtaṁ śubha-karma prajā-hitaṃ bhavati | tasya daivī-guṇād ṛte anyaḥ ko hetuḥ, yena sarvo deśaḥ tasyaikasyādhīno bhavet?
毗湿摩说道：“除却神圣般的卓越之外，还有什么原因使众民甘居一人之下？噢，诸王之最！那位在心念与行事上保持平等之观的君主所行诸善业，皆为臣民之福祉。若非其如神之德，又凭何使一国尽归此一人统御？”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s legitimacy and effective authority rest on daivī-guṇa—godlike virtues expressed as equanimity in thought and action—and on using power for the subjects’ welfare; without such virtue, there is no sound reason for an entire realm to accept one person’s rule.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhishma addresses the king (Yudhishthira) and explains why people submit to a single ruler: not merely force or chance, but the ruler’s visible virtue and beneficent conduct aimed at public good.