[188] He should deploy his army in any direction from which he suspects danger, and he should always set himself (in the midst of) the army in the lotus formation. [189] He should set his general and captain (and their men) on all sides, and he should arrange his front to face in any direction from which he suspects danger. [190] He should establish on all sides troops who are trustworthy and who have arranged signals, who are skilled at standing firm and at fighting, fearless and unwavering. [191] He should have a few soldiers fight in close ranks, if he wishes, or have many of them spread out; he should deploy them in the formation of a needle or a thunderbolt and have them fight. [192] He should fight with horses and chariots on level ground, and with boats and elephants on marshes, with bows on ground covered with trees and shrubs, and with swords, shields, and similar weapons on mounds. [193] He should send to fight in the vanguards Matsyas, Pañcālas, and natives of the Field of the Kurus and Sūrasena, as well as tall and lightweight men. [194] When he has deployed the army he should exhort them and inspect them carefully; and he should also find out how they act when they are fighting the enemy.
[195] When he has besieged the enemy he should encamp and harass his kingdom, and he should constantly spoil his fodder, food, water, and fuel. [196] He should break the tanks, ramparts, and ditches, and ambush him, and terrify him at night. [197] He should talk over to his side those who can be talked over, and find out what (the enemy) has done, and, when fate is favourable, fearlessly fight to win.
[198] He should try to conquer his enemies by conciliation, bribery, and dissension, either together or separately, but never by fighting. [199] For since it can be observed that neither victory nor defeat belongs permanently to either of two powers who fight in battle, therefore he should avoid fighting. [200] But if even the three expedients mentioned above cannot be used, he should be prepared to fight in such a way as to conquer his enemies.
[201] When he has conquered, he should worship the gods and the priests who are religious; he should grant tax exemptions and proclaim promises of safety. [202] And when he has concisely ascertained the intentions of all those (conquered people), he should set on that (throne) someone in the dynasty of that (vanquished king) and establish a treaty. [203] He should make authoritative their own laws, as they have been declared, and with jewels he should honour (the new king), together with the important men. [204] Taking things that people want causes displeasure and giving them causes pleasure, and each is recommended if employed at the proper time. [205] All of this activity depends on both divine and human disposition, but of the two of these the divine cannot be imagined, while it is possible to do something about the human.
[206] Or he may take pains to join with (the conquered king) in an alliance and go away, realizing that an ally, gold, and territory are the triple fruit (of conquest). [207] And when he has carefully observed the heel-snatcher in the circle, as well as the one who attacks the heel-snatcher, he should reap the fruit of the march from his ally or his enemy. [208] A (conquering) king increases his power not so much through obtaining gold and territory as through gaining a firm ally, who, even though weak (at present, may become) capable in the future. [209] (Even) an insignificant ally is recommended (if he) understands justice, is grateful, loyal, and firm in his undertakings, and his people are satisfied. [210] Intelligent men say that the worst enemy is one who is intelligent, well-born, brave, clever, generous, grateful, and firm. [211] An Aryan nature, an understanding of men, heroism, a compassionate disposition, and wide aims at all times are the advantageous virtues of a neutral (king).
[212] To save himself, a king should without hesitation give up territory even if it is salubrious, always yields good crops, and livestock thrive on it. [213] He should save money for an extreme emergency; he should save his wife even at the cost of his money; he should always save himself, even at the cost of his wife and his money. [214] When an intelligent man realizes that all sorts of extreme emergencies have arisen together, he should try all (four) expedients, together or separately. [215] Taking into consideration this triad – the person using the expedient, what is to be accomplished by the expedient, and all the expedients – he should try to achieve his goal.
[216] When the king has taken counsel about all of this with his counsellors, and when he has exercised and bathed, he should enter the harem at noon to eat. [217] There he should eat food over which Vedic verses that dispel poison have been chanted, food that has been well tested by kitchen servants who are like his second self, who cannot be seduced and who know the time (for food). [218] And he should clean all of his articles with waters that destroy poison, and he should always be circumspect about wearing jewels that destroy poison. [219] Well-tested women whose clothing and ornaments have been thoroughly cleaned should attentively caress him with fans, water, and incense. [220] In the same way, he should be careful about his carriage, bed, seat, and food, and about bathing, anointing and adorning his body, and all his ornaments.
[221] When he has eaten, he should take his pleasure with the women in the harem; and when he has taken his pleasure at the proper time, he should think again about the things he must do. [222] In full regalia, he should inspect the armed forces again, and all the vehicles, weapons, and ornaments. [223] When he has performed his twilight rituals, he should arm himself, and in the inner chamber he should hear about the movements of his spies and those who report secrets. [224] When he has dismissed these people and gone to another inner chamber, he should again enter the harem to eat, surrounded by women. [225] When he has again eaten something there, his spirits lifted by instrumental music, he should lie down and then arise at the proper time free from fatigue.
[226] A king should follow this regime when he is healthy; but when he is not well, he may entrust all of this to his retainers.
End of Chapter 7
[2] The transformative ritual (saṃskāra) is the initiation, in this case more precisely the consecration as king.
[7] Here and in general throughout the discussion of the king’s duty, dharma is best rendered as ‘justice’.
[14] Yama, the king of the dead, is also called the King of Justice (dharma), and holds the rod of punishment (daṇḍa) in his hand. The king is regarded as another incarnation of this aspect of justice, who carries the rod as his sceptre (while the priest carries the staff that he receives at initiation, also called daṇḍa).
[15] The phrase ‘to be used’ (bhogāya) might also be translated ‘to be enjoyed or consumed’; the verb denotes eating, enjoying sexually, using up (as is said of the effects of past actions), and consuming (as fire consumes fuel). The commentator gives an example: trees allow themselves to be used by giving up their fruit, flowers, and so forth.
[17] Some commentators suggest that the rod is a man because it is through the rod that a king puts down and controls even those who are more powerful than he, as if they were women. Another suggests that compared with him other men are women; another that he is the soul of the primeval Man (puruṣa); another that the rod is the king’s man, a policeman. The word translated as ‘guarantor’ (pratibhū) means more precisely a man who stands bail or a security posted as collateral.
[21] That is, no one would have any power or domination or ownership (svāmyam) over anyone else. The commentators predictably suggest that ‘upside down’ (adharottaram) means that servants would usurp the place of priests.
[23] The commentators note that the sun might not get up for two or three days if he were entirely independent. One quotes this scriptural passage (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 6.3, in which ‘he’ is brahman, ultimate reality): ‘Through fear of him, fire heats, and through fear the sun heats; through fear Indra runs, and the wind, and death as the fifth.’ Another commentator cites another canonical verse (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.8): ‘Through fear of him the wind blows, and through fear the sun rises; through fear of him fire runs, and Indra, and death as the fifth.’
[26] That is, he is experienced in each of the three human goals or th
e triple path and knows the relative value of each and the correct relationship between them.
[29] The gods in heaven, and the hermits on earth, are oppressed by the failure of just punishment (and the consequent destruction of religion). As a result of men’s failure to give sacrificial offerings, the gods are no longer maintained in heaven and descend to the atmosphere, while the hermits flee from earth to the same atmosphere. Some commentaries suggest that the gods remain in heaven, and that the phrase ‘who have gone to the atmosphere’ applies only to the hermits, but this makes less sense.
[33] ‘Living by gleaning and gathering’ is a technical term for a particularly modest kind of livelihood; see 4.5.
[39] ‘Humility’ (vinaya) can mean many things, including discipline or good manners. But the examples of proud and humble kings given in 7.41–2 suggest that humility – more precisely, the need for a king to humble himself before a priest – is what Manu has in mind here.
[41] Vena was an evil king who murdered people and prevented sacrifices until the priests killed him (Mahābhārata 12.59.99–103). Nahuṣa, a human king, rose to become another Indra in heaven until he had the audacity to proposition Indra’s wife and to harness the Seven Sages to his chariot in place of horses, whereupon he was cursed to become a snake and fell from heaven (Mahābhārata 5.9–17). Sudās the son of Pījavana was a great king, with Viśvāmitra as his family priest and Vasiṣṭha as his enemy, until he had his men kill Vasiṣṭha’s son Śakti, Viśvāmitra abandoned him, and he was defeated (ṛg Veda 7.18, 7.32, with Sāyaṇa’s commentary); he reappears in the Mahābhārata (1.166–8) as Saudasa Kalmāṣapāda, where he again kills Śakti and Viśvāmitra curses him to become an ogre. Sumukha does not seem to appear in the Vedas or Epics. Nimi would not wait for his family priest, Vasiṣṭha, to return before he undertook a great sacrifice; Vasiṣṭha cursed him to lose his body; when he died, the priests churned his body to produce a son, Janaka of Videha (Mahābhārata 13.91; Devībhāgavata Purāṇa 6).
[42] The good kings in this verse are the counterparts, and often the relatives, of the evil kings in the previous verse. Pṛthu was the posthumous son of Vena, churned from Vena’s dead body by the same priests that had killed him; Pṛthu re-established justice, provided food for his subjects, and became the founding king of the lunar line (Atharva Veda 8.10.22–9; Mahābhārata 12.59.99–103). It is not clear which of the seven Manus mentioned by Manu (1.61–3), most of whom reigned as kings (their stories are told in detail in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa), is intended in this verse. The first Manu, the Son of the Self-born (svāyambhuva), is said to have been the author of The Laws of Manu and the ancestor of Vena and Pṛthu. It is the fifth Manu, the Son of the Gazing (cākṣuṣa), whose story best fits the present pattern: he asked the royal sage Pulaha to help him become master of the whole world, a goal that he eventually achieved (Devībhāgavata Purāṇa 10). But the seventh Manu, the Son of the Shining Sun (vaivāsvata), is by far the most famous, and his story is told in the oldest texts (ṛg Veda 10.72.8–9; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 3.1.3–5): he is the Manu who assisted Pṛthu, and the only commentator on this verse who identifies Manu calls him the Son of the Sun. Kubera (the counterpart of Nahusa, as the equal of Indra) became Lord of Wealth, one of the four Guardians of the World, as a result of his inner heat (Mahābhārata 9.46). Viśvāmitra (the counterpart, and acquaintance, of Sudās and Nimi) was born a king but, in competition with Vasiṣṭha, generated inner heat until he became a priest (Mahābhārata 1.164–5; 9.39; Rāmāyaṇa 1.51–6).
[46] Kāma here is both desire, in contrast with anger, and pleasure, one of the three human goals, in conflict with religion (dharma) and profit (artha).
[54] The political textbook, the Arthaśāstra (1.10.1–20), describes detailed traps that the king is to set for the ministers in charge of the uprooting of dissidents (the test of justice or religion, dharma), the treasury (the test of profit, artha), the harem (the test of pleasure or lust, kāma), and his bodyguards (the test of fear). The application of such tests is implicit in Manu 7.60 and 7.62.
[56] ‘Consolidation of gains’ may refer to the pacification of newly-acquired territory or the sanctification of acquisitions through gifts to temples and so forth.
[58] The six-fold policy of government is described in 7.56.
[67] ‘Secret’ gestures may mean the gestures that the ambassador himself conceals, that the other king conceals, the gestures of other men who conceal them, or the gestures of hidden men (i.e. his own spies or the spies of the other king).
[68] ‘He’ in this verse may be the king or the ambassador.
[69] The ‘dry, open country’ is jāngala, the very opposite of what ‘jungle’ means in English: it is hot but dry, with little water or lush vegetation.
[70] These may be natural fortifications or, as some commentators suggest, some natural and some man-made, of earth (brick and stones), water (a moat), or timber.
[82] The king reveres the students returning from Vedic study by giving them money, and that money, dispersed among priests, is regarded as a kind of royal investment.
[91] The folded hands, unbound hair, and words of surrender mark the man as a helpless supplicant. Climbing on a mound means, according to the commentators, that the man is on the ground and trying to scramble up to the level of the king, who is, presumably, still mounted on his chariot.
[97] The Vedic text referred to here is probably Aitareya Brāhmaṇa 3.21, in which Indra, the paradigmatic warrior king, kills the demon Vṛtra and then asks the gods to give him a special portion of the booty, but then refuses to give any of them a special portion.
[99] The worthy receptacles of charity (pātras) are good men to whom it is a privilege to give gifts. See 4.227.
[102] The first phrase may also mean, ‘His army (daṇḍa) should be constantly ready (udyata).’ The rod (daṇḍa) is a multivalent metaphor for the visible display of the king’s official power, his personal manliness, his army, and his power to inflict punishment.
[105] The word for the six ‘members’ of the body (angas: arms, legs, head, and torso for a human king; legs, head, and tail for a turtle) also designates the parts of the state; these are traditionally regarded sometimes as six (enumerated in 7.157: the king, plus his ministers, territory, forts, treasury, and army) and sometimes as seven (enumerated in 9.294: the same six, plus the ally).
[106] The heron is noted for his cunning and patience; see 4.195–7.
[107] The four expedients (upakramas) or means (upāyas), described at length in the Arthaśāstra, are conciliation, bribery, dissension, and physical force (daṇḍa, the army).
[119] The term ‘family’ (kula) is used here in a technical sense. It may designate the amount of land that a family can live off, or the amount that one man can plough; some commentators define it as twice the amount that can be ploughed by a plough with six oxen, or the amount that can be ploughed by twelve oxen. The verse may, however, mean that the master of ten villages gets the amount of taxes that one family pays, and the master of twenty, five times that amount, while the superintendent of a hundred gets the taxes from an entire village, and the overlord of a thousand, the taxes from a town.
[126] A penny (literally a ‘chip’) is defined at 8.136; a ‘bucket’ (droṇa) is approximately a fifth of a bushel, 21.25 lbs or 9.6 kg, defined as 256 ‘straws’ or palas (for which, see 8.135).
[129] The animals in this verse may be more general – creatures that live in the water (including fish, who, as one commentator points out, drink very little water, for fear that they will destroy their own livelihood), young animals, and insects in general. But most commentators prefer the more specific animals, and remark that their food consists of blood, milk, and honey.
[143] The term dasyu, ‘aliens’, is more fully defined in the footnote to 5.131 and by Manu himself at 10.45.
[145] A watch (yāma) is three hours. The oblation would be offered at the very end of the watch, at dawn.
[149
] Some commentators say that he should expel animals such as dogs and crows, which are inauspicious; others that he should expel parrots and mynahs, talking birds that might expose the counsel.
[154] The eight-fold activity of a king is variously described by various commentators; it may include the six expedients (conciliation and so forth) or the six-fold policy mentioned in 7.56, or the six tactics mentioned in 7.160. The five-fold class in other contexts usually designates the five elements of the body or sensory organs. Here it seems to be extended, quasi-metaphorically, to the ‘senses’ of the king – his spies, who are said, by the commentators, to consist of various religious hypocrites and down-and-out farmers and merchants. Other commentators suggest that it designates the five requirements for a royal enterprise, or the other five members of the state. The circle of enemies is described in 7.158.
[155] The king who wishes to conquer is the ideal king; the enemy is his enemy, of whom there are sometimes said to be three kinds: natural (sometimes someone of the same family), artificial (someone who becomes an enemy as a result of a particular situation), and the immediate neighbour (described in 7.158). The king in-between is the one whose territory is situated between the first two kings (and may become a danger to either or to both).
[156] According to Kāmandaki’s Nītisāra (8.16–17), which the commentators cite throughout this section of Manu, the eight additional elements are divided into two groups: in front, beyond the enemy’s territory, are the ally, the enemy’s ally, the ally’s ally, and the enemy’s ally’s ally; behind are the heel-snatcher (the king who attacks in the rear), the one who attacks the heel-snatcher, the adjacent ally of the heel-snatcher, and the adjacent ally of the one who attacks the heel-snatcher.
The Laws of Manu Page 24