Shloka 14
Vyavahāra-Śuddhi and Rājadharma: Clean Administration, Counsel, and Proportional Punishment
Chapter 86
विद्रवेच्चैव राष्ट्र ते श्येनात् पक्षिगणा इव । परिस्रवेच्च सततं नौर्विशीर्णेव सागरे
vidravec caiva rāṣṭra te śyenāt pakṣigaṇā iva | parisravec ca satataṁ naur viśīrṇeva sāgare ||
毗湿摩说道：“若你行事不义，你的国土也将从你身边飞散而去——如群鸟畏鹰而四散。你的疆域将不断流失，永不停歇，恰似海中破舟，被浪涛卷走而迷失。于是百姓认定你不义，便会渐渐离弃你的统治，迁往他处。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s legitimacy rests on dharma: injustice makes subjects lose trust and disperse. Political power is not merely held by force; it depends on the willing cohesion of the people, which collapses when the king is perceived as adhārmika.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on rājadharma. Here he warns that if the king behaves unjustly, the realm will ‘flee’—subjects will scatter like birds from a hawk, and the kingdom will steadily slip away like a broken boat drifting in the sea.