Mahabharata: Volume 8 (41 page)

‘Yudhishthira asked, “What are the specific duties a king must undertake? How should the countryside be protected? How should he protect against enemies? How should he employ spies? O descendant of the Bharata lineage! How does he obtain the confidence of the varnas, the servants, the wives and the sons?”

‘Bhishma replied, “O great king! Listen attentively to the complete account of the conduct of kings—the tasks that a king who is naturally a king must first do. The king must always conquer his soul and then he must conquer his enemies. If a lord of men has not conquered his own soul, how can he defeat the enemy? Victory over one’s own self means restraint of the aggregate of the five.
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Having conquered the senses, a lord of men is then capable of countering the enemy.

‘“O descendant of the Kuru lineage! O tiger among men! He must place platoons in forts, boundaries, the groves of cities, all the parks of the towns and the cities, in the midst and in the abode of the king. As spies, he must employ men who have been tested and
found to be wise, those who can withstand hunger, thirst and heat. They should seem to be dumb, blind and deaf. O great king! Having reflected about it, he must employ spies against all his advisers, the three types of friends,
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his sons, in cities and in the countryside, and amongst kings who are vassals. The spies should be such that they do not know about each other. O bull among the Bharata lineage! He must know about the spies the enemy has employed in shops, pleasure grounds, assemblies, among beggars, in groves and gardens, amidst assemblies of learned men, brothels, crossroads, assembly halls and dwelling houses. O Pandava! A wise one must counter the spies of the enemy in this way. If one knows everything about the spies, they are as good as destroyed.

‘“When the king examines himself and knows himself to be weak, he must seek the counsel of his advisers and have a treaty with the one who is stronger. Even if he knows that he is not weak, an intelligent king swiftly concludes a treaty with the enemy, if he desires to obtain some advantage out of this. A king who protects the kingdom in accordance with dharma appoints those who possess qualities, are great in their enthusiasm, knowledgeable about dharma and virtuous. If an immensely wise king realizes that he is being resisted, he must kill all the people who have injured him in the past and, in every way, counter those who are injurious. A lord of the earth should have nothing to do with someone who can neither help nor hurt him, nor with those who are incapable of saving him from hardships. An intelligent person will march out undetected against someone who has no allies and friends, someone who is preoccupied,
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someone who is negligent and someone who is weak. A brave one will give the instruction for advancing when the army is strong, nourished and happy. However, before the advance, he must make arrangements for the city. Even if the other one is valiant, a king must never accept subjugation. Even if he is weak in strength and valour, he must try to afflict the enemy. He must oppress the kingdom with weapons, fire and poison and overwhelm it. He must try to cause strife amidst
his
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advisers and servants. Even if he desires a kingdom, an intelligent person will always seek to avoid war. Brihaspati has said that there are three means of obtaining prosperity—conciliation, gifts and dissension. A learned lord of men will be satisfied with whatever prosperity can be obtained through these.

‘“O descendant of the Kuru lineage! For protecting the subjects, an infinitely wise king will take one-sixth of their income as tax. However, even for the sake of protecting the citizens, he must not violently take whatever those in the tenth decade possess, be it a lot or little. There is no doubt that he should look upon the citizens as his sons. In adjudicating disputes, it is his duty not to be partial because of affection. For the task of adjudication, a king must appoint a wise son who can consider all the aspects. A kingdom is always based on proper dispute resolution. The king must appoint his advisers and skilful men who do not cause injury as supervisors over mines, salt, taxes, ferries and elephant corps. A king who always wields the rod of chastisement well will obtain dharma. In the dharma of kings, the rod is always praised. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The king must always be learned in the Vedas and the Vedangas, wise, a great ascetic and always devoted to donations and the performance of sacrifices. All these qualities must always be collectively established in a king. If a king does not observe the rites, how will he obtain heaven and how will he obtain fame?

‘“If a king is oppressed by a stronger king, he must resort to the three kinds of allies and friends
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and determine what must be done. Those in pens must be set on the roads
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and villages must be removed. All of them must be made to enter the outskirts of the city. The wealthy and the leaders of the army must repeatedly be assured. The lord of men must himself ensure that the grain is brought in.
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If it cannot be brought in, it must be completely burnt by fire. The
grain that is still in the fields can be used to wean away the enemy’s men, or one’s own forces can be used to completely destroy it. The bridges over rivers and the roads must always be demolished. All the stored water must be released. If it cannot be released, it must be poisoned. When such a situation of present and future conflict is at hand, one can ignore policy and decide that it is time to have friendships with anyone who is capable of countering the enemy.
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The king must cut down the roots of all the small trees that are near forts. However,
chaitya
trees must be spared.
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The branches of all the old trees must be pruned. However, one must always avoid cutting down the leaves of chaityas. He must erect high walls and casements.
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The moats must be filled with stakes, crocodiles and fish. There must be doors of straw so that people inside the city can breathe freely. One must act so that these doors are also protected in every way. Machines must be placed atop the heavier gates. He must act so that shataghnis are placed there and are under his control. Timber must be collected and wells must be dug. For the sake of water, wells that have been dug earlier must be purified. Houses thatched with grass must be plastered with mud. Because of the fear of fire, in the month of Chaitra,
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all straw must be removed from the city. The lord of men must allow food to be cooked only during the night. With the exception of agnihotras, the burning of fires in houses during the day will be avoided. Special care must be taken of fires ignited by artisans and in places where women give birth. It is recommended that fires lit in houses must be covered well. For the sake of the protection of the city, it must be announced that those who light fires during the day will be severely punished. O best of men! Beggars, wagoners, drunkards, lunatics and actors should be driven out. Otherwise, evil may result. The king must act so as to appoint spies from appropriate varnas at crossroads, tirthas, assembly
halls and dwelling houses. The lord of men must construct broad royal roads. He must instruct that stores of drinking water and shops are constructed at appropriate places. There must also be stores for riches, stores for weapons and stores for grain everywhere and stables for horses and stables for elephants, with barracks for the soldiers. O Kouravya! O Yudhishthira! There must be moats, highways and narrower roads. No one must be able to detect what is secret. A king who is afflicted by the forces of the enemy must accumulate stores of all kinds of oil, honey, clarified butter and medicines. He must arrange for stores of charcoal, kusha grass, munja grass, red lac, arrows, trees, fodder, kindling and poisoned arrows. The lord of men must arrange for stores of all kinds of weapons—lances, swords, spears and armour. In particular, he must arrange for the collection of all kinds of medicinal herbs, roots and fruits and the four kinds of physicians.
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Actors, dancers, wrestlers and those skilled in the use of maya should adorn the best of cities and amuse people everywhere. If there is any suspicion attached to servants, ministers, citizens or even kings,
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he must endeavour to bring them under his control. O Indra among kings! When a task has been accomplished, the doer must be honoured with stores of riches. Honour and various words of appreciation must be appropriate to the person. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! When an enemy has been countered or slain, the king pays off the debts that are indicated for him in the sacred texts.

‘“O descendant of the Kuru lineage! Listen to me. The king must protect seven things—his own person, his advisers, his treasury, his army, his allies, his country and his city. The kingdom consists of these seven and they must be protected carefully. O tiger among men! He who knows about the collection of the six, the first three categories and the further three categories, enjoys the earth. O Yudhishthira! Listen to the collection of six that have been mentioned—being seated after concluding a treaty, ensuring a treaty after marching out, being seated after declaring war, seizing
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after
marching out, creating a division in the enemy and seeking asylum with the enemy. Listen attentively to what is said to be the three categories—decay, maintenance of the status quo and increase. The further three categories are the pursuit of dharma, artha and kama at the appropriate time. It is through dharma that a lord of the earth protects the earth for a long period of time. In this connection, Angiras’s son
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himself has sung two shlokas. O son of a Yadavi!
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O fortunate one! You should listen to them. ‘Having performed all the tasks well, having protected the earth and having protected the citizens in this way, one enjoys happiness in the hereafter. If all the subjects are unprotected and dharma is disregarded, what will austerities do for a king like that? What will his sacrifices achieve?’”’

‘Yudhishthira asked, “There is dandaniti and there is the king. O grandfather! Tell me. Are these two equal? And whose success is it going to be?”

‘Bhishma replied, “O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Listen to me and I will tell you exactly, with words and reasons, about the great fortune that the success of dandaniti brings. Dandaniti binds down the four varnas to their own dharma. When applied by the lord, it ensures that they do not proceed towards adharma. When the four varnas respect their own dharma and there is no mixing, because of the use of dandaniti, there is peace and the subjects are free from fear. In the proper way, the three varnas will make efforts to perform soma rites. Know that the happiness of gods and men is accumulated from these. You should not entertain any doubt about whether the age results in the king, or the king results in the age. The king causes the age. When the king implements all of dandaniti
properly, the best of ages, known as krita yuga, ensues. When it is krita yuga, dharma prevails. There never is any adharma. None of the varnas finds any delight in adharma. There is no doubt that subjects obtain what they wish and preserve what they have.
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The rites of the Vedas are performed, without any reduction in qualities. All the seasons bring happiness and are free from disease. Sounds, colours and thoughts please men. There are no diseases then and men with short lifespans are not seen. There are no widows and cruel people are not born. The earth yields crops without being ploughed and the herbs are also like that. There is vigour in barks, leaves, fruits and roots. There is no adharma there. There is only dharma. O Yudhishthira! Know these to be the qualities of krita yuga.

‘“When the king abandons one-fourth of dandaniti and follows only three-fourths, treta yuga results. The three-fourths are followed by one-fourth that is inauspicious. The earth yields crops only when ploughed and the herbs are also like that. When the king abandons half of policy and dharma, the age known as dvapara is the result. Half that is inauspicious follows half that is good. The earth yields crops when ploughed, but only a little. When the lord of the earth abandons dandaniti entirely and oppresses his subjects in various ways, then kali enters. Adharma is generally prevalent in kali, but dharma is sometimes seen. The minds of all the varnas turn away from their own dharma. Shudras earn a living through mendicancy and brahmanas through servitude. Yoga and
kshema
are destroyed and there is a mixing of varnas. The rites of the Vedas are without any qualities. All the seasons are devoid of happiness and are full of ill health. Sounds, colour and thoughts of people decay. There are diseases then and one dies before one’s span of life is over. There are widows and cruel people are born. It only rains sometimes and crops also grow sometimes. When the lord of the earth no longer wishes to protect the subjects, using dandaniti properly and well, all the juices head towards destruction. The king is the creator of krita yuga, treta and dvapara. The king is the reason behind the fourth yuga too. For creating krita, the king obtains endless heaven. For creating treta, the
king obtains heaven, but it is not endless. For giving rise to dvapara, the king obtains the portion that is his share. However, for giving rise to kali, the king obtains eternal evil. Such an evil-acting person dwells in hell for an eternal period. Having submerged himself in the sins of his subjects, he reaps the sin of bad deeds.

‘“A kshatriya must always know and place dandaniti at the forefront, so that he can obtain what he desires and protect what he possesses. Dandaniti, when administered well, sets boundaries for people and is like a mother or a father, demarcating honour for the welfare of the world. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Know that beings thrive on this. This is supreme dharma and the king must follow dandaniti. O Kouravya! Therefore, protect the subjects in accordance with dharma and policy. Having acted in this way and having protected the subjects, you will conquer the heaven that is extremely difficult to vanquish.”’