Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.49.18
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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dharmeṇa
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religiously
Instrumental of dharma. Not 'with a religion' but 'by means of dharma' — protection of the earth is itself a sacrament when its instrument is dharma.
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śīlena
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by good character
Śīla = settled disposition. Akrūra teaches that subjects are won not by spectacle but by the king's everyday character. Bhakti-shastras name śīla as a precondition for serving Bhagavān (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu lists it among saintly qualities).
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samaḥ
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equally disposed
Sama — the keyword of the whole counsel. Pre-figures Gītā 6.9 (sama-darśana) and Gītā 18.54 (samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu). Equanimity here is not philosophical pose but political duty.
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śreyaḥ
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perfection
From √śri, the root of śaraṇa — that which one leans toward, the highest good. Distinguished in Vedānta from preyas (the merely pleasant); Akrūra is offering the king the choice the Kaṭha Upaniṣad already named.
Akrūra told Dhṛtarāṣṭra that even though he had usurped the throne, if he now ruled according to the principles of dharma and behaved properly, he could be successful.
"Well that may be, that you did this unjustly, but you remain on the throne. And by acting properly you will attain perfection."
If you please the citizens by your good character (śīlena) and are equal to your sons and the Pāṇḍavas (sveṣu) you will attain fame and prosperity (śreyaḥ). Or you will attain with purity (avāpsyasi) happiness (śreyaḥ) and fame in this world and the next.
Akrūra holds up the picture of the ideal king the way a guru holds up a mirror to a student — not as accusation but as the form the listener could still grow into. Protect the earth, delight the citizens, weigh all relatives equally: three strokes of the brush, and the portrait of dharmic rule is complete.
Mahābhārata Śānti-parva paints the very picture Akrūra is drawing: Yudhiṣṭhira after Kurukṣetra rules with samatva, delights citizens by śīla, protects the earth by dharma — and achieves both śreyas (perfection) and kīrti (glory).
The Bhāgavatam's irony is sharp: Akrūra describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra exactly the rule his rejected nephew will eventually establish. The teaching is offered; only the listener changes.
My note
Source: vedabase.io