Mahabharata: Volume 8

by Debroy, Bibek

  ‘“The king must also possess these qualities and must be skilled in the sacred texts. His desire must be supreme dharma and he must be devoted to ruling the subjects. He must be patient, tolerant, pure, swift, exhibiting manliness at the appropriate time, ready to serve, learned, ready to listen, accomplished in reasoning, intelligent, firm in his mind, ready to implement what is fair, self-controlled, always pleasant in speech, forgiving when there is a catastrophe, ceaseless in generosity, ready to act on his own, possessing excellent gates,983 pleasant to behold, ready to extend a hand to those who are distressed, always engaged in policy indicated by the learned, without ego, without opposite sentiments, without a tendency to act on everything, unwavering in pursuing a task that has been undertaken, a master who is loved by the servants, ready to bring people together, not rigid, always possessing a pleasant demeanour, generous, attentive towards the servants, without anger, extremely broad-minded, ready to use the rod of chastisement, not failing to use the rod of chastisement, a ruler who ensures acts of dharma, one who uses spies as his eyes, attentive towards enemies and always accomplished in dharma and artha. Such a king will possess a hundred qualities and you should be like that. O Indra among men! In sustaining the kingdom, you must search for warriors and excellent men as aides, those who possess all the qualities. The king who desires prosperity should not disrespect them. The warriors must be insolent in battle, grateful and accomplished in the use of weapons. They must know about the sacred texts of dharma and must possess foot soldiers. If they are accomplished in the use of chariots and skilled in the use of arrows and weapons, the king will extend his prosperity and win the earth. The king who is always engaged in attracting people to himself, who is engaged in enterprise and who is firm in friendship is supreme among kings. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! If one can collect one thousand men who are valiant horse riders, one is capable of conquering the entire earth.”’

  Chapter 1447(119)

  ‘Bhishma said, “If a king acts so as to engage and employ servants who are unlike the dog, then he obtains the fruits of the kingdom. When the dog transgressed its own state and measure, it was no longer treated well. The dog should have remained in its own place. It transgressed it and became something else. It is a duty for a learned person to appoint servants appropriate to their families and lineages, so that they are engaged in their appropriate tasks. Inappropriate positions are condemned. If servants are engaged in the appropriate tasks, then because of the qualities of those servants, the king obtains fruits. A sharabha should be in a sharabha’s place, a lion in a lion’s. A tiger should be in a tiger’s place, a leopard in a leopard’s. As is proper, appoint servants in the appropriate tasks. If one desires the fruits of one’s actions, servants should not be appointed in perverse positions. A king who transgresses the norms and appoints servants in perverse positions is foolish and does not delight the subjects. If the king desires his welfare, he should not have stupid, inferior and men born from bad lineages by his side, those who are unable to control their senses. Those who are at the side must be men who are virtuous, accomplished, brave, learned, without malice, without meanness, pure and skilled. Those who are appointed outside984 by the king must be engaged in the welfare of beings, forgiving, accomplished, naturally pure and satisfied with their own states. A person who is like a lion should always be by the side of a lion. If a person who is not a lion is with a lion, the lion does not obtain any fruits. If a lion is engaged in obtaining the fruits of its deeds, but that lion is surrounded by dogs, because that lion is attended by dogs, it is incapable of enjoying any of the fruits. O Indra among men! In this way, with brave, wise and extremely learned people, who are born in noble lineages, one is capable of conquering the entire earth. O supreme among those who employ servants! A lord of the earth must not collect servants who are without learning, without uprightness, without knowledge and without great riches by his side. The king must be attentive towards the servants he has appointed and assure them. These people will then be engaged in the tasks of their master and advance like arrows that have been released. Kings must always endeavour to protect their treasuries. The treasury is the foundation for kings. Ensure the foundation of the treasury. The stores must always be full and stocked with grain. Good people must be employed to take care of them. Have stores of riches and grain. Always engage servants who are skilled in fighting. Skill in the use of horses is also desired. Look towards kin and relatives. Be surrounded by friends and allies. O descendant of the Kourava lineage! Be engaged in tasks that ensure the welfare of the city. I have spoken to you about the desired intelligence and wisdom. O son! The dog is an example before you. What else do you wish to hear?”’

  Chapter 1448(120)

  ‘Yudhishthira said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! You have said many things about the conduct of kings, about what has been indicated in the past by those who knew about rajadharma. You have recounted in detail the views of those virtuous ones who thought about these earlier. O bull among the Bharata lineage! I am requesting you to again tell me about rajadharma.”

  ‘Bhishma replied, “The protection of all beings is the supreme objective for kshatriyas. O lord of the earth! Listen to how this protection can be brought about. A peacock, the devourer of snakes, exhibits colourful plumage. Like that, a king who follows dharma and desires happiness should adopt many kinds of forms—fierceness, deceit, incapability of being controlled, truthfulness and uprightness. He should spiritedly stand amidst all of these. Whatever ensures welfare for a certain objective, that is the colour and form he should adopt. When a king can assume many different forms, even the subtlest of his objectives does not suffer. He must always hide his counsel and be dumb, like a peacock during the autumn. He must speak gently and his body must be smooth and handsome. He should be skilled in the sacred texts. He must make endeavours to guard the gates through which dangers penetrate, like waterfalls, and also be a refuge for brahmanas and virtuous people, when there is a shower of hail and rain.985 Desiring prosperity, like the crest of a peacock, the king must hold aloft the flag of dharma. He must always wield the rod of chastisement and act attentively, paying attention to the income and expenditure of people, flying from one tree to another.986 He must fling away insects from the flock with the feet.987 When his own wings have grown, he should flutter them and cleanse himself. He must identify his enemy’s faults and cause agitation to his988 wings. He must behave the way a peacock acts towards flowers in the forest.989 He must seek refuge with lofty and prosperous kings who are like mountains, seeking shade and refuge in secret, while one is undetected.990 Like a peacock submerging itself during the monsoon, undetected and alone in the night, he must go to his wives, following the qualities of the peacock. He must not take off his body armour and must always protect himself. He must not advance into snares and must avoid the nooses. Having destroyed the ground,991 he must penetrate the dense forest again. Just as the peacock angrily kills the others who are poisonous992 and does not allow them to reside with him, he993 must kill the powerful994 and deceitful ones who seek to injure him.

  However, unlike the peacock, he must not always be addicted to desire. He must always collect wise people around him, like insects in the deep forest.995 In this way, like a peacock, the king must protect his own kingdom. If he is skilled, he will adopt a policy that will enhance his own prosperity. He will use his intelligence to control himself and counter the enemy’s intelligence. The sacred texts give illustrations to indicate that one’s qualities are developed through intelligence. Considering one’s own strength, the enemy must be assured through conciliation. The intelligence must be used to reflect, since the intelligence provides counsel to one’s own self. One must be calm, devoted to yoga, intelligent and wise, thinking about what must be done and what must not be done. A learned one will keep his counsel hidden and speak only what should be spoken. If he is wise and as intelligent as Brihaspati, he will avoid inferior speech. His nature will be like molten steel, when
it has been immersed in water.996 The lord of the earth will follow the injunctions of the sacred texts to ensure that he himself, and everyone else, is engaged in the appropriate tasks. The inferior, the cruel, the wise, the brave, those who are skilled with money and others who are good with words must all be engaged in their respective tasks. Others who cannot be seen997 must also be similarly appointed in tasks. They must all be made to follow their appropriate tasks, like notes on the taut strings of a musical instrument. One who acts in an affectionate way towards all beings, without acting against dharma, is as immobile as a mountain and everyone thinks of him as, ‘He is my king.’ He must look towards dharma and treat everything, pleasant or unpleasant, as equal, like the sun casting its rays and thus dispense judgement. He must appoint those who know about dharma, are middle-aged, without taints, in control of their senses and mild in speech, bearing in mind their lineage, nature and country of origin. They must not be avaricious and must be learned. They must be controlled and devoted to dharma.

  A king who wishes to protect dharma and artha must appoint these for all the tasks. In this way, he acts so as to become the refuge of those who have no refuge. In this way, he is impartially established and having used spies, is content. He must himself consider and act so that his anger and delight are not in vain. If he is firm in his own convictions, his treasury and the earth become full of riches. When the reasons behind his favours and his punishment are transparent, when he is protected and when his kingdom is protected, then that king is a king who knows about dharma. Like the sun rises over cows,998 he must always look towards the kingdom. He must use his intelligence to know about mobile and immobile objects and will not suffer from any anxiety. The king’s accumulation of riches must be appropriate to the time. When he milks the earth every day, he will be like an intelligent person who milks a cow without killing it. A six-legged one999 gradually collects honey from flowers. In that fashion, the king must collect objects to build up his treasury. Anything that is in excess of the required store should be spent on dharma and kama. A king who knows about dharma must accumulate and also spend. He must never think that any wealth is a trifle. He must never disregard an enemy. He must use his intelligence to know himself and he must not trust those who are limited in intelligence. Perseverance, skill, self-control, great intelligence, patience, valour, knowledge about time and place and attentiveness, whether these are a little or a lot, are the eight kindling logs that lead to an increase in prosperity. When a fire is small but is sprinkled with clarified butter, it becomes larger. A single seed can become many thousand. Even if he hears that his income and expenditure are great, a learned one will not think that anything is too little. Whether the enemy is a child or an adult, or even if he is extremely old, he is capable of slaying a careless man. In the course of time, he can sever the root. Therefore, someone who knows about time is the best among kings. Whether the enemy is weak or strong, if he is driven by malice, he can take away deeds, become an obstruction in the path of dharma and, for a long period of time, take away one’s valour.

  Therefore, a self-controlled person does not ignore the enemy. The enemy must be weakened and one’s own stores must be protected. Together with these objectives, dharma, artha and kama exist. An intelligent person does things that are beyond these. Thus, a king resorts to a person who is intelligent. Blazing intelligence destroys the powerful and protected by intelligence, strength increases.1000 Through intelligence, a prosperous enemy can be made to decline. When one uses one’s intelligence and then undertakes a task, this is praised. One who pursues all one’s objects of desire is wise. If one possesses only a little bit of enterprise, one is weak in the body. Since he desires prosperity for his own self, he must fill the vessel, even if only a little is available. Therefore, a king who has been seized by the enemy must seek to obtain the foundation of prosperity from everywhere. Even if he has been afflicted for a long period of time, like a momentary flash of lightning, he will obtain honour. Learning, austerities, a great deal of riches—all of these are capable of being obtained with enterprise. The brahman dwells in the bodies of those who are enterprising. Thus, one should know that enterprise is the most important. The intelligent and spirited Shakra, Vishnu and Sarasvati always reside in all beings and, therefore, one must never disregard the body. An avaricious person must be slain with generosity. An avaricious person is always dissatisfied with the prosperity of others. All those who are avaricious may enjoy the qualities of deeds,1001 but because they abandon dharma and kama, they eventually lose artha too. All those who are avaricious desire the riches, objects of pleasure, sons, wives and prosperity of others. All the sins exist in avaricious people. Therefore, the king must not accept avaricious people.1002 A person born in an inferior lineage, if he is virtuous and wise, can be used to ascertain the undertakings and all the objectives of those who wish to cause injury. O Pandava! A minister must be known to follow dharma and must be capable of keeping a secret. O king! He must be learned, born in a noble lineage and capable of extending the kingdom. O god among men! I have recounted the ordinances of dharma. Use your intelligence to know and follow them. The king who uses his intelligence to follow these is a king who is capable of protecting the earth. Wrong policy that is against the ordinances, or many kinds of deceitful policy, can be seen to produce happiness. But that kind of king has no ultimate end. Nor is there supreme happiness in the kingdom. A king who allies with the virtuous is seen to soon slay enemies who are superior in wealth, intelligence, conduct, honour, endowments of good qualities, evident valour in battle and visible qualities.1003 One must think of different ways of treading along the path of action and not turn one’s mind to obstructions. A man who only looks at the sins1004 does not obtain prosperity, superiority, great fame and riches. There may be two well-wishers who have been drawn together by bonds of affection, but have later drifted apart. A wise person must know that the two have drifted apart and treat with great gentleness the friend who bears the greater load.1005 I have recounted rajadharma to you. Using this and your intelligence, protect men. You will obtain auspicious fruits and happiness. Everything in the world is based on the supreme foundation of dharma.”’

  Chapter 1449(121)

  ‘Yudhishthira said, “O grandfather! You have recounted this eternal rajadharma. This is the lord’s1006 great rod of chastisement and everything is established on this rod of chastisement—in particular, the gods, the rishis, the great-souled ancestors, the yakshas, the rakshasas, the pishachas and the mortals. In a fierce way, it resides in all the beings in this world. O lord! It pervades everything, is extremely energetic and is the best. You have said that everything that is seen in the worlds—gods, asuras and men, mobile and immobile objects—is touched by the rod of chastisement. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Therefore, I wish to know the entire truth about this. What is this rod? What is the rod like? What is its form? What is its nature? What is its soul like? How was it created? What is its image? How did it become a rod? When does the rod of chastisement, which causes injury to beings, awake? To protect, how does it remain awake, before and after?1007 How was it known earlier? What are the signs of the rod later? Where is the rod based? What is its trajectory?”

  ‘Bhishma replied, “O Kouravya! Hear about the rod of chastisement and about why it amounts to judgement. In this earth, the rod is the only object through which everything is controlled. O great king! That is the reason judgement is also known by the name of dharma. If it is destroyed, how will beings, who wish to cause injury, be destroyed? That is the reason judgement is known as vyavahara.1008 O king! In ancient times, right at the beginning, this was stated by Manu. ‘If the rod is applied well, treating the loved and the disliked equally, then he who protects the subjects in this way is alone like dharma himself.’ These words were spoken by Manu in ancient times.

  ‘“But even before that, at the time of creation, there were Brahma’s great words, mentioned by Vasishtha. These words were spoken before those other words wer
e uttered, so the learned say that these were the earliest words.1009 ‘In this world, judgement is spoken of as vyavahara. If the rod is applied well, the three objectives1010 always flow from it.’ The supreme rod is divine in form, with trails like fire. He is as dark as the petals of a blue lotus. He has four teeth, four arms, eight feet and many eyes. The ears are conical and the hair stands upright. He is matted and possesses two tongues. His eyes are coppery and he is clad in the skin of the king of animals.1011 The rod always sports this fierce and frightful appearance and is impossible to withstand. The sword, the club, the bow, the spear, the trident, the bludgeon, the arrow, the mallet, the battleaxe, the chakra, the spike, the staff, the cutlass, the javelin and whatever weapons exist in this world—the rod roams around and assumes their forms. The rod roams around, slaying and striking, piercing, severing, smashing, slicing, mangling and uprooting. O Yudhishthira! These names of the rod are recounted—Asi,1012 Vishasana,1013 Dharma, Tikshnavartma,1014 Durasada,1015 Shrigarbha,1016 Vijaya,1017 Shasta,1018 Vyavahara, Prajagara,1019 Shastra,1020 Brahmana, Mantra, Shasta,1021 Pragyavachana-gata,1022 Dharmapala,1023 Akshaya,1024 Deva,1025 Satyaga,1026 Nityaga,1027 Graha,1028 Asanga,1029 Rudratanaya,1030 Manujyeshtha1031 and Shivamkara.1032 The lord is the illustrious Vishnu and his sacrifice, the lord Narayana, whose great form is eternal and who is known as the great being. It is said to be Brahma’s daughters—Lakshmi, Niti1033 and Sarasvati. Dandaniti is Jagaddhatri.1034 O descendant of the Bharata lienage! The rod has many different kinds of forms—good and bad, happy and unhappy, dharma and adharma, strong and weak, good fortune and ill fortune, auspicious and inauspicious, with qualities and without qualities, with desire and without desire, season, month, night, day, moment, without favours and with favours, delight, anger, pacification, self-control, destiny, human endeavour, with salvation and without salvation, with fear and without fear, with violence and without violence, austerities, sacrifices, self-restraint, with poison and without poison, the end, the beginning, the middle, evil sorcery, deceit, intoxication, carelessness, pride, insolence, patience, good policy and bad policy, lack of strength and strength, respect and disrespect, change and status quo, humility, renunciation, the right time and the wrong time. O Kouravya! The rod has many different forms in the world—falsehood, knowing and not knowing, truth, faith and lack of faith, impotence, conduct, gain and loss, victory and defeat, sharpness and mildness, death, getting and not getting, disagreement and agreement, tasks that should be done and tasks that should not be done, strength and weakness, malice and lack of malice, dharma and adharma, shame and lack of shame, success and failure, energy, deeds, learning, strength of speech and intelligence.