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Bhīṣma said:
It is said that the acquisition and preservation of the kingdom depend on the king, while the king's own acquisition and preservation depend on the priest.
The Brahmin dispels the unseen fears of the people, while the king, by his own strength, removes the visible ones; thus, that kingdom prospers in happiness.
Here too, they narrate an ancient story: the conversation between Mucukunda and King Vaiśravaṇa.
Muçukunda, after conquering this earth, the king, wishing to test his own strength, went to Kubera, the lord of Alaka.
Then King Vaiśravaṇa sent forth the demons, and his Nairṛta followers moved about, crushing the enemy forces.
When his own army was being destroyed, King Mucukunda, the destroyer of enemies, censured his learned priest.
Then Vasiṣṭha, the foremost knower of Brahman, after performing intense austerity, drove away the demons there and also discovered the path.
Then King Vaiśravaṇa revealed Mucukunda and, as the armies were being destroyed, spoke these words.
Indeed, even the powerful kings of old with their priests did not conduct themselves here as you do.
Those kings, powerful and skilled in arms, indeed come and attend upon me, the Lord, both in happiness and in sorrow.
If you possess physical strength, you should show it. Why do you act so excessively relying on Brāhmaṇa-power?
Then Mucukunda, though angry, calmly and justly replied these words to Dhaneśvara, without agitation or confusion.
The Brahmin and Kṣatriya were both created from a single origin by the self-born; their separate arrangements of power protect the world.
The power of austerity and mantra is always established among the Brāhmaṇas; the power of weapons and physical strength is always established among the Kṣatriyas.
The protection of the subjects should be carried out by those two together. Yet, while I am acting thus, you blame me, O lord of Alaka.
Then Vaiśravaṇa said to the king and his priest, "I do not grant a kingdom to anyone unless it has been specifically assigned."
O king, know that you must not violate what has been assigned. O hero, rule this entire earth, which has been given by me.
Mucukunda said:
O king, I do not wish to enjoy a kingdom given by you. I desire to enjoy a kingdom acquired by the strength of my own arms.
Bhīṣma said:
Then King Vaiśravaṇa was greatly astonished, seeing Mucukunda standing firm and unagitated in his warrior's duty.
Then King Mucukunda ruled the earth, faithfully upholding the kṣatriya duty, which he had rightfully gained through his own valor.
Thus, the king who knows Brahman and acts with Brahman as his foremost guide conquers the unconquered earth and attains great fame.
A Brāhmaṇa should always perform water-offerings, and a Kṣatriya should always bear arms; for indeed, everything in the world depends on these two.
