Chapter 70

“Yudhishthira said, ‘By adopting that conduct, O thou that art conversantwith every kind of behaviour, can a king succeed in easily acquiring,both here and hereafter, objects productive of happiness in the end?’

“Bhishma said, ‘There are these thirty-six virtues (which a king shouldobserve). They are connected with thirty-six others. A virtuous person,by attending to those qualities, can certainly acquire great merit. Theking should observe his duties without wrath and malice. He should notabandon kindness. He should have faith. He should acquire wealth withoutpersecution and cruelty. He should pursue pleasure without attachments.He should, with cheerfulness, utter what is the agreeable, and be bravewithout brag. He should be liberal but should not make gifts to personsthat are unobserving. He should have prowess without cruelty. He shouldmake alliance, avoiding those that are wicked. He should not act withhostility towards friends. He should never employ persons not devoted tohim as his spies and secret agents. He should never accomplish hisobjects by persecution. He should never, disclose his purposes beforepersons that are wicked. He should speak of the merits of others butnever his own. He should take wealth from his subjects but never fromthose that are good. He should never employ or take the assistance ofpersons that are wicked. He should never inflict punishment withoutcareful enquiry. He should never disclose his counsels. He should giveaway, but not to persons that are covetous. He should repose confidenceon others but never on those that have injured him. He should not cherishmalice. He should protect his wedded wives. He should be pure and shouldnot always be melted by compassion. He should not indulge much in femalecompanionship. He should take food that is wholesome and never that whichis otherwise. He should without pride pay regards to those that deservethem, and serve his preceptors and seniors with sincerity. He shouldworship the gods without pride. He should seek prosperity, but never doanything that brings infamy. He should wait (upon his seniors) withhumility. He should be clever in business but should always wait for theproper time. He should comfort men and never send them away with emptyspeeches. Having favoured a person, he should not abandon him. He shouldnever strike in ignorance. Having slain his foe he should never indulgein sorrow. He should display temper, but should never do so when there isno occasion. He should be mild, but never to those that have offended.Conduct thyself thus while ruling thy kingdom if thou wishest to haveprosperity. The king that behaves otherwise incurs great danger. Thatking who observes all these virtues that I have mentioned, reaps manyblessings on earth and great rewards in heaven.’

“Vaisampayana continued, ‘Hearing these words of Santanu’s son, kingYudhishthira, docile in receiving instructions, possessed of greatintelligence, and protected by Bhima and others, then worshipped hisgrandsire and from that time began to rule according to that teaching.'”