Chapter 69

“Yudhishthira said, ‘What other special duties remain for the king todischarge? How should he protect his kingdom and how subdue his foes? Howshould he employ his spies? How should he inspire confidence in the fourorders of his subjects, his own servants, wives, and sons, O Bharata?’

“Bhishma said, ‘Listen, O monarch, with attention to the diverse dutiesof kings,–to those acts which the king or one that is in the position ofa king should first do. The king should first subdue himself and thenseek to subdue his foes. How should a king who has not been able toconquer his own self be able to conquer his foes? The conquest of these,viz., the aggregate of five, is regarded as the conquest of self. Theking that has succeeded in subduing his senses is competent to resist hisfoes. He should place bodies of foot-soldiers in his forts, frontiers,towns, parks, and pleasure gardens, O delighter of the Kurus, as also inall places where he himself goes, and within his own palace, O tigeramong men! He should employ as spies men looking like idiots or likethose that are blind and deaf. Those should all be persons who have beenthoroughly examined (in respect of their ability), who are possessed ofwisdom, and who are able to endure hunger and thirst. With properattention, the king should set his spies upon all his counsellors andfriends and sons, in his city and the provinces, and in dominions of thechiefs under him. His spies should be so employed that they may not knowone another. He should also, O bull of Bharata’s race, know the spies ofhis foes by himself setting spies in shops and places of amusement, andconcourses of people, among beggars, in his pleasure gardens and parks,in meetings and conclaves of the learned, in the country, in publicplaces, in places where he holds his own court, and in the houses of thecitizens. The king possessed of intelligence may thus ascertain the spiesdespatched by his foes. If these be known, the king may derive muchbenefit, O son of Pandu! When the king, by a survey of his own, findshimself weak, he should then, consulting with his counsellors make peacewith a foe that is stronger. The king that is wise should speedily makepeace with a foe, even when he knows that he is not weak, if anyadvantage is to be derived from it. Engaged in protecting his kingdomwith righteousness, the king should make peace with those that arepossessed of every accomplishment, capable of great exertion, virtuous,and honest. When the king finds himself threatened with danger and aboutto be overtaken by ruin, he should slay all offenders whom he hadoverlooked before and all such persons as are pointed at by the people. Aking should have nothing to do with that person who can neither benefitnor injure him, or with one who cannot rescue himself from distress. Asregards military operations a king who is confident of his own strength,should, at the head of a large force, cheerfully and with courage givethe order to march, without proclaiming his destination against onedestitute of allies and friends or already at war with another and(therefore) heedless (of danger from other quarters), or one weaker thanhimself, having first made arrangements for the protection of his owncapital.[217] A king should not for ever live in subjection to anotherpossessed of greater prowess. Though weak, he should seek to afflict thestronger, and resolved upon this, continue to rule his own.[218] Heshould afflict the kingdom of the stronger one by means of weapons, fireand application of poison. He should also cause dissensions amongst hiscounsellors and servants. Vrihaspati has said that a king possessed ofintelligence should always avoid war for acquisition of territory. Theacquisition of dominion should be made by the three well-known means (ofconciliation, gift, and disunion). The king that is possessed of wisdomshould be gratified with those acquisition that are made by means ofconciliation, gift, and disunion. The king, O delighter of the Kurus,should take a sixth of the incomes of his subjects as tribute for meetingthe expenses of protecting them. He should also forcibly take awaywealth, much or little (as the case may require), from the ten kinds ofoffenders mentioned in the scriptures, for the protection of hissubjects. A king should, without doubt, look upon his subjects as his ownchildren. In determining their disputes, however, he should not showcompassion. For hearing the complaints and answers of disputants injudicial suits, the king should always appoint persons possessed ofwisdom and a knowledge of the affairs of the world, for the state reallyrests upon a proper administration of justice. The king should set honestand trustworthy men over his mines, salt, grain, ferries, and elephantcorps. The king who always wields with propriety the rod of chastisementearns great merit. The proper regulation of chastisement is the high dutyof kings and deserves great applause. The king should be conversant withthe Vedas and their branches, possessed of wisdom, engaged in penances,charitable, and devoted to the performance of sacrifices. All thesequalities should permanently reside in a king. If the king fails toadminister justice, he can neither have heaven nor fame. If a king beafflicted by a stronger one, the former, if possessed of intelligence,should seek refuge in a fort. Assembling his friends for consultation, heshould devise proper means. Adopting the policy of conciliation and ofproducing dissensions, he should devise means for waging war with theassailant. He should set the inhabitants of the woods on the high roads,and, if necessary, cause whole villages to be removed, transplanting allthe inhabitants to minor towns or the outskirts of great cities.Repeatedly assuring his wealthy subjects and the principal officers ofthe army, he should cause the inhabitants of the open country to takerefuge in such forts as are well-protected. He should himself withdrawall stores of grain (from the open country into his forts). If thatbecomes impossible, he should destroy them completely by fire. He shouldset men for destroying the crops on the fields of the enemy (by producingdisunion among the enemy’s subjects). Failing to do this, he shoulddestroy those crops by means of his own troops. He should destroy all thebridges over the rivers in his kingdom. He should bale out the waters ofall the tanks in his dominions, or, if incapable of baling them out,cause them to be poisoned. Disregarding the duty of protecting hisfriends, he should, in view of both present and future circumstances,seek the protection of the ruler of another kingdom who may happen to bethe foe of his foe and who may be competent to deal with his foe on thefield of battle.[219] He should destroy all the smaller forts in hiskingdom. He should also cut down all the smaller trees excepting thosethat are called Chaitya.[220] He should cause the branches of all thelarger trees to be lopped off, but he should not touch the very leaves ofthose called Chaitya. He should raise outer ramparts round his forts,with enclosures in them, and fill his trenches with water, drivingpointed stakes at their bottom and filling them with crocodiles andsharks. He should keep small openings in his walls for making salliesfrom his fort, and carefully make arrangements for their defence likethat of the greater gates.[221] In all his gates he should plantdestructive engines. He should plant on the ramparts (of his forts)Sataghnis and other weapons. He should store wood for fuel and dig andrepair wells for supply of water to the garrison. He should cause allhouses made of grass and straw to be plastered over with mud, and if itis the summer month, he should, from fear of fire, withdraw (into a placeof safety) all the stores of grass and straw. He should order all food tobe cooked at night. No fire should be ignited during the day, except forthe daily homa. Particular care should be taken of the fires in smithiesand lying-in rooms. Fires kept within the houses of the inhabitantsshould be well covered. For the effectual protection of the city, itshould be proclaimed that condign punishment will overtake the person wholights fires by the day time. During such times, all beggars, eunuchs,lunatics, and mimes, should, O foremost of men, be driven out of thetown, for if they are permitted to remain, evil will follow. In places ofpublic resort, in tirthas, in assemblies, and in the houses of thecitizens, the king should set competent spies.[222] The king should causewide roads to be constructed and order shops, and places for thedistribution of water, to be opened at proper stations. Depots (ofdiverse necessaries), arsenals, camps and quarters for soldiers, stationsfor the keeping of horses and elephants, encampments of soldiers,trenches, streets and bypaths, houses and gardens for retirement andpleasure, should be so ordered that their sites may not be known toothers, O Yudhishthira. A king who is afflicted by a hostile army shouldgather wealth, and store oil and fat and honey, and clarified butter, andmedicines of all kinds, and charcoal and munja grass, leaves, arrows,scribes and draftsmen, grass, fuel, poisoned arrows, weapons of everykind such as darts, swords, lances, and others. The king should storesuch articles. He should especially keep ready drugs of every kind, rootsand fruits, the four kinds of physicians, actors and dancers, athletes,and persons capable of assuming diverse disguises. He should decorate hiscapital and gladden all his subjects. The king should lose no time inbringing under his control such persons as may happen to inspire him withfear, be they his servants or counsellors or citizens or neighbouringmonarchs. After any task of the king has been accomplished, he shouldreward that those that have aided in its accomplishment with wealth andother proportionate gifts and thankful speeches. It has been laid down inthe scriptures, O delighter of the Kurus, that a king pays off his debtwhen he discomfits his foe or slays him outright.[223] A king should takecare of seven things. Listen to me as I recite them. They are his ownself, his counsellors, his treasury, his machinery for awardingpunishments, his friends, his provinces, and his capital. He should withcare protect his kingdom which consists of these seven limbs. That king,O tiger among men, who is conversant with the aggregate of six, thetriple aggregate, and the high aggregate of three, succeeds in winningthe sovereignty of the whole earth. Listen, O Yudhishthira, to what hasbeen called the aggregate of six. These are ruling in peace afterconcluding a treaty (with the foe), marching to battle, producingdisunion among the foe, concentration of forces, for inspiring the foewith fear, preparedness for war with readiness for peace, and alliancewith others. Listen now with attention to what has been called the tripleaggregate. They are decrease, maintenance of what is, and growth. Thehigh aggregate of three consists of Virtue, Profit and Pleasure. Theseshould be pursued judiciously. By the aid of virtue, a king succeeds inruling the earth for ever. Touching this matter, Angirasa’s son:Vrihaspati himself has sung two verses. Blessed be thou, O son of Devaki,it behoveth thee to hear them. ‘Having discharged all his duties andhaving protected the earth, and having also protected his cities, a kingattains to great happiness in heaven. What are penances to that king, andwhat need has he of sacrifices who protects his people properly? Such aking should be regarded as one conversant with every virtue!’

Yudhishthira said, ‘There is the science of chastisement, there is theking, and there are the subjects. Tell me, O grandsire, what advantage isderived by one of these from the others.’

Bhishma said, ‘Listen to me, O king, as I describe, O Bharata, the greatblessedness of the science of chastisement, in sacred words of graveimport. The science of chastisement forces all men to the observance ofthe duties of their respective orders. Duly administered, it forcespeople to virtuous acts.[224] When the four orders attend to theirrespective duties, when all wholesome barriers are maintained, when peaceand happiness are made to flow from the science of chastisement, when thepeople become freed from all fear, and the three higher orders endeavour,according to their respective duties, to maintain harmony, know that menbecome truly happy at such times. Whether it is the king that makes theage, or, it is the age that makes the king, is a question about whichthou shouldst not entertain any doubt. The truth is that the king makesthe age. When, the king rules with a complete and strict reliance on thescience of chastisement, the foremost of ages called Krita is then saidto set in.[225] Righteousness sets in the Krita age. Nothing ofunrighteousness exists then. The hearts of men belonging to all the fourorders do not take any pleasure in unrighteousness. Without doubt, allmen succeed in acquiring the objects they desire and preserving thosethat have been acquired. All the Vedic rites become productive of merit.All the seasons become delightful and free from evil. The voice,pronunciation, and minds of all men become clear and cheerful. Diseasesdisappear and all men become long-lived. Wives do not become widows, andno person becomes a miser. The earth yields crops without being tilled,and herbs and plants grow in luxuriance. Barks, leaves, fruits, androots, become vigorous and abundant. No unrighteousness is seen. Nothingbut righteousness exists. Know these to be the characteristics, OYudhishthira, of the Krita age. When the king relies upon only three ofthe four parts of the science of chastisement leaving out a fourth, theage called Treta sets in. A fourth part of unrighteousness follows in thetrain of such observance (of the great science) by three-fourths. Theearth yields crops but waits for tillage. The herbs and plants grow(depending upon tillage). When the king observes the great science byonly a half, leaving out the other half, then the age that sets in iscalled Dwapara. A moiety of unrighteousness follows in the train of suchobservance of the great science by half. The earth requires tillage andyields crops by half. When the king, abandoning the great sciencetotally, oppresses his subjects by evil means of diverse kinds, the agethat sets in is called Kali. During the age called Kali, unrighteousnessbecomes full and nothing of righteousness is seen. The hearts of men, ofall the orders, fall away from their respective duties. Sudras live byadopting lives of mendicancy, and Brahmanas live by serving others. Menfail to acquire the objects they desire and preserve those alreadyacquired. Intermixture of the four orders takes place. Vedic rites failto produce fruits. All the seasons cease to be delightful and becomefraught with evil. The voice, pronunciation, and minds of men losevigour. Diseases appear, and men die prematurely. Wives become widows,and many cruel men are seen. The clouds do not pour seasonably, and cropsfail. All kinds of moisture also fail, when the king does not, withproper attention to the great science, protect the subjects. The king isthe creator of the Krita age, of the Treta, and of the Dwapara. The kingis the cause of the fourth age (called Kali). If he causes the Krita age,he attains to everlasting heaven. If he causes the Treta age, he acquiresheaven for a period that is limited. If he causes the Dwapara, he attainsto blessedness in heaven according to the measure of his merits. Bycausing the Kali age, the king incurs a heavy load of sin. Stained bywickedness, he rots in hell for innumerable years, for sinking in thesins of his subjects, he incurs great sin and infamy himself. Keeping thegreat science in his view, the Kshatriya possessed of learning shouldstrive to acquire those objects which he desires and protect those thathave been already acquired. The science of chastisement, whichestablishes all men in the observance of their respective duties, whichis the groundwork of all wholesome distinctions, and which truly upholdsthe world and sets it agoing, if properly administered, protects all menlike the mother and the father protecting their children. Know, O bullamong men, that the very lives of creatures depend upon it. The highestmerit a king can acquire is acquaintance with the science of chastisementand administering it properly. Therefore, O thou of Kuru’s race, protectthy subjects righteously, with the aid of that great science. Byprotecting the subjects and adopting such a conduct, thou wilt surelyattain to such blessedness in heaven as is difficult of acquisition.”