Shloka 22
Vidurā–Putra Saṃvāda: Utsāha, Kīrti, and Kṣātra Resolve
Udyoga-parva 131
न हि वैक्लव्यसंसृष्ट आनृशंस्ये व्यवस्थित: । प्रजापालनसम्भूतं फलं किंचन लब्धवान्,जो सदा दयाभावमें ही स्थित हो विह्लल बना रहता है, ऐसे किसी भी पुरुषने प्रजापालनजनित किसी पुण्यफलको कभी नहीं प्राप्त किया है
na hi vaiklavyasaṃsṛṣṭa ānṛśaṃsye vyavasthitaḥ | prajā-pālana-sambhūtaṃ phalaṃ kiṃcana labdhavān |
风神伐由说道：“若人掺杂无助之态，只固守柔软的怜悯，乃至陷于不能作为，便得不到任何由护民之责所生的果报。那种坍塌为无能的慈悲，从未赢得出自负责任治国之功德。”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Compassion (ānṛśaṃsya) is virtuous, but when it becomes helpless weakness (vaiklavyam) it fails the demands of rājadharma. The merit of rulership arises from actively protecting and sustaining the people, not from sentimental pity that cannot act.
Vāyu is instructing the listener on the ethics of leadership: a ruler or protector must not let tender-heartedness degrade into incapacity. True duty requires firmness to secure the welfare of the subjects; otherwise the distinctive ‘fruit’ of prajā-pālana is not attained.