autsukya-mātram avasāyayati pratiṣṭhā
autsukya-mātram avasāyayati pratiṣṭhā
kliśnāti labdha-paripālana-vṛttir eva |
nātiśramāpanayanāya na ca śramāya
rājyaṁ sva-hasta-dhṛta-daṇḍam ivātapatram ||
(Abhijñāna-śākuntalam: 5.6)
“[Mahārāja Duṣyanta:] Position (pratiṣṭhā) reduces only eagerness [i.e., the longing to attain it], and the task of maintaining the acquired [position] causes only distress. Kingship, like an umbrella the pole of which is held in one’s own hand, leads neither to hardship nor to any great removal of hardship.”
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