Shloka 33
Vāmadeva’s Rājadharma: Norm-Setting, Counsel, and the Prevention of Rāṣṭra-Vināśa (वामदेव-प्रोक्तं राजधर्मम्)
जो प्रधान मन्त्रियोंका त्याग करके निम्नश्रेणीके मनुष्योंको अपना प्रिय बनाता है, वह संकटके घोर समुद्रमें पड़कर पीड़ित हो कहीं आश्रय नहीं पाता है ।।
yo pradhāna-mantriṇāṃ tyāgaṃ kṛtvā nīmaśreṇī-manuṣyān ātmanaḥ priyān karoti, sa saṅkaṭasya ghore samudre patitvā pīḍitaḥ kvacid āśrayaṃ na vindati. yaḥ kalyāṇa-guṇān jñātīn pradveṣān na bubhūṣati, adṛḍhātmā dṛḍha-krodhaḥ sa mṛtyor vasaty antike.
瓦摩提婆教诲道：君主若弃其首席大臣，反以卑下不肖之人为亲信，必堕入可怖的灾厄之海；在其中受苦时，处处无所依归。又若有人因憎恨而不肯敬重本族亲眷——彼等具备善德——其心不坚，且执怒不放，此人便恒常栖身于死亡之侧；因为此等行径摧毁了维系生命、秩序与达摩的支柱。
वामदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
A leader must rely on worthy counsel and uphold respect for virtuous kin; abandoning competent ministers for unfit favorites and nurturing hatred and anger destroys one’s supports and brings ruin—symbolized as living close to death.
In Śānti Parva’s rājadharma instruction, Vāmadeva delivers a warning about statecraft and personal conduct: poor choice of associates and hostility toward one’s own virtuous relatives lead to isolation in crisis and continual peril.