12.057
Pancharatra: Bhishma continues to instruct royal duties: a teacher, a friend, or a son who acts with evil must certainly be counteracted; should not harm the wealth of others; support those who are not maintained and oversee those who are maintained; be pleasant-faced, and speak to others with a smile; oversees the tasks with focus that have been started but not completed; in whose domain men move about fearlessly like sons in the house of their father; whose wealth is open, whose citizens and subjects are knowledgeable in right and wrong conduct; who honours knowledge; whose spies and counselors are always vigilant in both accomplished and unaccomplished matters.
Bhīṣma said:
O Yudhishthira, a king must always be diligent; for a king who lacks effort is subdued, just as a woman is subdued when she lacks effort.
The illustrious sage Uśanā spoke this verse here, O lord of the people. Now, O king, listen attentively as I speak it to you.
The earth destroys two types of people: a king without adversaries and a brāhmaṇa who does not travel, just as a serpent devours one lying in its hole.
O best of men, you should resolve this in your heart: make alliances with those fit for alliance, and oppose those who are to be opposed.
Whoever in your kingdom, among the seven limbs, acts in opposition—be it a teacher or a friend—he must certainly be counteracted.
O king, this ancient verse, expressing the opinion of Bṛhaspati, was indeed sung by King Marutta in former times on the subject of sovereignty.
Even the teacher, if arrogant and ignorant of right and wrong, and who has taken to a wrong path, is to be abandoned.
Here, the wise king Sagara, son of Bāhu, abandoned his eldest son Asamanja for the welfare of the citizens.
Asamanja, having previously drowned the sons of the citizens in the Sarayu river, O king, was reproached by his father and thus exiled.
Śvetaketu, the great ascetic and beloved son, was also abandoned by the sage Uddālaka because he was falsely serving the Brāhmaṇas.
Here, the eternal duty of kings is to please the people; also, to protect truth and to maintain straightforwardness in conduct.
One should not harm the wealth of others; one should give and ensure giving at the proper time. A valiant, truthful, and forbearing king does not stray from the righteous path.
He is one whose counsel is secret, who has conquered anger, whose resolve is firm in the meaning of the scriptures, and who is always devoted to dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa.
A king is worthy to become one whose faults are covered by the three Vedas. For kings, there is nothing higher than restraint from sin.
O kings, the duties of the four varṇas must be protected; indeed, it is the eternal duty of kings to prevent the confusion of duties.
A king should not trust anyone, nor should he trust excessively. He should always observe the merits and faults of the six policies with intelligence.
A king who is vigilant about two kinds of flaws, is always praised; who understands the meaning of the three aims of life, and is endowed with proper conduct and strategy.
He is devoted to acquiring the treasury, comparable to Yama and Vaiśravaṇa; and he knows by nature the positions, increases, and decreases of the ten divisions.
The king should support those who are not maintained, oversee those who are maintained, be pleasant-faced, and speak to others with a smile.
He served and attended to elders, was free from lethargy, not greedy, steadfast in the conduct of the virtuous; truly, good people are those who observe proper conduct.
One should never take wealth from the hands of the virtuous; but if wealth is taken from the unvirtuous, it should be given to the virtuous.
He is himself the initiator, the giver, self-controlled, and one who attains mastery; at the right time, he is both the giver and the enjoyer, and is always of pure conduct.
Valiant, devoted, and indomitable individuals, born in the family and free from disease; noble and connected with the noble, self-respecting and not disrespectful.
They are knowers of knowledge, knowers of the world, those who examine the other world, steadfast in dharma, virtuous, and unwavering, like the immovable.
A king, always endowed with prosperity, should appoint helpers; he should be equal to them in enjoyments and superior only by virtue of royal authority (symbolized by the umbrella).
Direct and indirect perception, as well as his state, should always be maintained in this way; thus, when the king acts accordingly, he does not experience distress here.
A king who is suspicious of everyone and seizes everything, quickly becomes crooked and greedy, and is troubled by his own people.
But a pure king, who is intent on winning the hearts of his people, does not fall even when beset by enemies; even if he falls, he stands firm.
A king who is not angry, free from vices, gentle in punishment, and has conquered his senses becomes as trustworthy to his subjects as the Himalaya.
A wise person endowed with the virtue of justice, who is intent on finding the faults of others, is discerning and knows both the policy and removal concerning all classes, likewise.
He acts swiftly, has mastered his anger, is gracious, great-minded, healthy by nature, self-controlled, active, and never boastful.
He is the best among kings in whose case only the tasks that have been started but not completed are seen.
He is the best among kings, that king in whose domain men move about fearlessly like sons in the house of their father.
He is called the best among kings whose wealth is open, whose citizens and subjects are knowledgeable in right and wrong conduct.
Whose people, engaged in their own duties and residing in the territory, are self-controlled, not prone to quarrels, and are protected according to proper rules.
He is a king whose men are submissive, easily guided, humble, not prone to conflict, and fond of giving in their affairs.
The king whose domain is free from deceit, illusion, and envy, his dharma is eternal.
He who honours knowledge, is devoted to the welfare of the people, follows the dharma of the virtuous, and is selfless—such a king deserves to rule the kingdom.
A king whose spies and counselors are always vigilant in both accomplished and unaccomplished matters, and whose actions are not known by enemies, he alone deserves to rule the kingdom.
O Bhārata, this verse too was once sung by the great-souled Bhārgava and narrated in the story of Rāma to the king.
First, one should secure the king, then a wife, and then wealth. If there is no king for the people, how can there be a wife or wealth?
O king, for rulers, there is no eternal duty other than the clear and manifest protection and support of the world.
O king of kings, these two verses, cited by Manu, the son of Pracetas, concerning the duties of kings, listen to them here with full attention.
A person should give up these six, just as one would abandon a broken boat in the ocean: a teacher who does not instruct, and a priest who does not study.
Do not trust a king who does not protect, a wife who speaks unpleasantly, a cowherd who desires the village, or a barber who desires the forest.
