Chapter 85

“Yudhishthira said, ‘O foremost of kings, what is that method by which aking ruling his subjects may, in consequence of it, obtain greatblessedness and eternal fame?’

“Bhishma said, ‘A king of cleansed soul and attentive to the duty ofprotecting his subjects earns merit and fame, both here and hereafter, byconducting himself righteously.’

“Yudhishthira said, ‘With whom should the king behave in what way? Askedby me, O thou of great wisdom, it behoveth thee to tell me everythingduly. Those virtues of which thou hast already spoken with respect to aperson, cannot, it is my belief, be found to exist in any singleindividual.’

“Bhishma said, ‘Thou art endued with great intelligence, O Yudhishthira!It is even so as thou sayest. The person is very rare who is possessed ofall those good qualities. To be brief, conduct like this (viz., thepresence of all the virtues spoken of), is very difficult to be met witheven upon careful search. I shall, however, tell thee what kinds ofministers should be appointed by thee. Four Brahmanas, learned in theVedas, possessed of a sense of dignity, belonging to the Snataka order,and of pure behaviour, and eight Kshatriyas, all of whom should bepossessed of physical strength and capable of wielding weapons, and oneand twenty Vaisyas, all of whom should be possessed of wealth, and threeSudras, everyone of whom should be humble and of pure conduct and devotedto his daily duties, and one man of the Suta caste, possessed of aknowledge of the Puranas and the eight cardinal virtues, should be thyministers. Every one of them should be fifty years of age, possessed of asense of dignity, free from envy, conversant with the Srutis and theSmritis, humble, impartial, competent to readily decide in the midst ofdisputants urging different courses of action, free from covetousness,and from the seven dreadful vices called Vyasanas. The king shouldconsult with those eight ministers and hold the lead among them. Heshould then publish in his kingdom, for the information of his subjects,the results of such deliberation. Thou shouldst always, adopting such aconduct, watch over thy people. Thou shouldst never confiscate what isdeposited with thee or appropriate as thine the thing about whoseownership two persons may dispute. Conduct such as this would spoil theadministration of justice. If the administration of justice be thusinjured, sin will afflict thee, and afflict thy kingdom as well, andinspire thy people with fear as little birds at the sight of the hawk.Thy kingdom will then melt away like a boat wrecked on the sea. If a kinggoverns his subjects with unrighteousness, fear takes possession of hisheart and the door of heaven is closed against him. A kingdom, O bullamong men, has its root in righteousness. That minister, or king’s son,who acts unrighteously, occupying the seat of justice, and those officerswho having accepted the charge of affairs, act unjustly, moved byself-interest, all sink in hell along with the king himself. Thosehelpless men who are oppressed by the powerful and who indulge on thataccount in piteous and copious lamentations, have their protector in theking. In cases of dispute between two parties the decision should bebased upon the evidence of witnesses. If one of the disputants has nowitnesses and is helpless, the king should give the case his bestconsideration. The king should cause chastisement to be meted out tooffenders according to the measure of their offences. They that arewealthy should be punished with fines and confiscations; they that arepoor, with loss of liberty. Those that are of very wicked conduct shouldbe chastised by the king with even corporal inflictions. The king shouldcherish all good men with agreeable speeches and gifts of wealth. He whoseeks to compass the death of the king should be punished with death tobe effected by diverse means. The same should be the punishment of onewho becomes guilty of arson or theft or such co-habitation with women asmay lead to a confusion of castes. A king, O monarch, who inflictspunishments duly and conformably to the dictates of the science ofchastisement, incurs no sin by the act. On the other hand, he earns meritthat is eternal. That foolish king who inflicts punishments capriciously,earns infamy here and sinks into hell hereafter. One should not bepunished for the fault of another, Reflecting well upon the (criminal)code, a person should be convicted or acquitted. A king should never slayan envoy under any circumstances. That king who slays art envoy sinksinto hell with all his ministers. That king observant of Kshatriyapractices who slays an envoy that faithfully utters the message withwhich he is charged, causes the manes of his deceased ancestors to bestained with the sin of killing a foetus. An envoy should possess theseseven accomplishments, viz., he should be high-born, of a good family,eloquent, clever, sweet-speeched, faithful in delivering the message withwhich he is charged, and endued with a good memory. The aid-de-camp ofthe king that protects his person should be endued with similarqualities. The officer also that guards his capital or citadel shouldpossess the same accomplishments. The king’s minister should beconversant with the conclusions of the scriptures and competent indirecting wars and making treaties. He should, further, be intelligent,possessed of courage, modest, and capable of keeping secrets. He shouldalso be of high birth endued with strength of mind, and pure in conduct.If possessed of these qualities, he should be regarded worthy. Thecommander of the king’s forces should be possessed of similaraccomplishments. He should also be conversant with the different kinds ofbattle array and with the uses of engines and weapons. He should be ableto bear exposure to rain, cold, heat, and wind, and watchful of thelaches of foes. The king, O monarch, should be able to lull his foes intoa sense of security. He should not, however, himself trust anyone. Thereposing of confidence on even his own son is not to be approved of. Ihave now, O sinless one, declared to thee what the conclusions of thescriptures are. Refusal to trust anyone has been said to be one of thehighest mysteries of king-craft.'”