Shloka 13
Kośārtha-Rājadharma: Ethical Revenue Collection and Social Regulation (कोशार्थ-राजधर्मः)
उपायान प्रब्रवीम्येतान् न मे माया विवक्षिता | अनुपायेन दमयन् प्रकोपयति वाजिन:
upāyān prabravīmy etān na me māyā vivakṣitā | anupāyena damayan prakopayati vājinaḥ rājān |
毗湿摩说道：“我将宣示这些治国与驭众之法；此处我并无欺诈与狡计之意。若不用恰当的方法去制伏骏马，只会激起它们的怒性；同样，统治者若以不当之举压迫人民，便是在他们心中点燃怨愤。”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Use appropriate, ethical means (upāya) rather than coercion or deceit (māyā). Improper methods of control do not create obedience; they generate anger and lasting resentment—especially in governance.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs the king on rajadharma. Here he prefaces his counsel by rejecting trickery and illustrates, through the example of horse-training, that wrong methods of restraint provoke the very subjects one seeks to govern.