* Duties of a king as per tenets of piety (Dharma).
Duties of a king as per tenets of piety (Dharma).
Shri Narayan Muni said:-
Dharma gives reputation to kings; dharma ensures them heaven (in the next life); a king should vanquish an enemy by following the path of dharma only; therefore he should remain steadfast in upholding dharma. 1.
A king should follow the prescribed rules of dharma in regard to the following six constituents of polity - the mood of the people, (the condition of) the country, means of livelihood and source of income (of his subjects), his counsellors and aids, the time and the activity (of people). 2.
A king should understand the lores concerning the four Purusharthas. These are as follows: Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. He should have knowledge of the three Vedas, trade and commerce, law and jurisprudence and logical investigation (Anvikshiki). 3.
The five expediencies are as follows: peace talks (Sama), causing split in the enemy camp (Bheda),offering concessions (Dana), punishment (Nigraha), and finally the fifth expedience is ignoring the enemy (upeksha). 4.
The three kinds of treaties are namely: best, average and inferior as stated below. The best is that which is affected by receiving wealth from the enemy. Furthermore, the average is that which is affected with honour and felicitation from the enemy and finally the inferior is that which is made out of fear. Also, there are three kinds of victories. These are Artha-jaya, Dharmyajaya and Aasura-jaya (The first is achieved by bribing the enemy soldiers and officers. The second is achieved by catching the enemy unawares while asleep or by using poisons and such. The third is achieved by fighting bravely i.e. as per the tenets of Dharma). 5.
The open units of the army are of eight types as follows. These are - warriors fighting from chariots, those on elephants, cavalry, infantry, bonded labourers, sailors and boats, spies and guides showing the roads. 6.
A King should know the following the covert means of attack by their characteristics. These are - the use of poison in clothes, food and black magic used by the enemy. 7.
A King should know the characteristics and distinctive traits of the planets and the constellations and of the roads and the lands. In addition to the above, he should also learn war-skills and the means of self-protection by using yantras (mystic figures) and mantras (mystic incantations). 8.
A good King should know the following war-formations. These are - the Garuda -eagle, Makara - crocodile, Krauncha, Chakra - circle, Suchimukha - a needle’s end, Vajra, Sarvato-bhadra, Ardhachandra - the crescent, Shakata - bullock- cart, and Shringataka - horns like triangular shape. Thus, the shrewd king should direct the forces accordingly. 9 - 10.
He should be acquainted with the means that work towards the strength of the foot-soldiers, elephants, horses and chariots from their respective sciences. Even more, he should know the techniques of the making of chariots, etc and also the qualities of weapons. 11.
He should know about the calamities and the means to overcome them, ways to encourage the army and to inspect their traits and characteristics. In addition to the abovementioned points, he should also know who the enemy is, who his friend is, who is a neutral and who the emissaries are. 12.
He should know the methods of destroying the wicked and the use of weapons and projectiles. He should also be acquainted with the customs and traditions of different regions, villages and clans as ordained by the Vedic dharma. 13.
A King should understand the positioning of the twelve kinds of Kings (in his sphere of influence). In regard to them, he should understand from the dharmashastras the appropriate punishment for the offences. 14.
A wise king should learn archery (military science) and politics and in this way after vanquishing the foes, he should promote dharma. 15.
By his own talent, he should win over the enemies by employing (strategies like) peace-talks, offers of concessions and causing splits in the enemy ranks. It may take very long, but he should never go to war straight away. 16.
If the adversaries cannot be won over by the three strategies like peace talks and others, a king should go to war boldly as per the tenets of dharma. 17.
If they are killed in the war, a just king should offer their kingdoms to their sons, after winning them over (to his side). 18.
If the enemies are taken as prisoners in war either by strategy or force, then they should be kept in prison. 19.
A good king should provide them food and clothing till they are alive. This is because, they deserve to be cared more than the cattle in cow-pens. 20.
A cruel king who causes death of the imprisoned (enemies) becomes guilty of terrible sins like killing a Brahmin and such others. 21.
A senseless king who is always bent upon waging war, disregarding peace talks and three other means, gets deprived of his good aides and other assets. 22.
His treasure also perishes and he is reduced to poverty. In that eventuality, he takes to stealing others’ wealth and meets his death. Therefore, he should not resort to thoughtless ventures. 23.
He should earmark one-third of his own share for his own expenses; the remaining two-thirds should be reserved for religious purposes. (He should always remember that life is ephemeral). 24.
Pleasing his subjects with his moral excellence, a king should look after them as per the tenets of dharma. He should never punish the innocent. However, he should not hesitate to punish the guilty. 25.
If a king does not rule (as detailed above), the people will flout morality and that will be the end of the social order based on the Varnas; and the kingdom will suffer from famine. 26.
A king who only collects taxes without providing (good) governance is liable to suffer for the sins committed by his people in addition to forfeiting the merit of his good deeds. 27.
A just king (observing dharma) should collect from his subject taxes only to the extent of one-sixth of their income for their protection and well-being. 28.
A king should first subjugate (control) his own mind; then he should think of subjugating the enemies. As a result, only the king who has conquered his own sense-organs can conquer the enemies. 29.
A king should be well-acquainted with the Vedas and the ancillary scriptures (Vedangas); he should understand morals and should be a devotee of Vishnu; he should be generous, perform sacrifices and practise penance. 30.
He should honour his servants who have performed their duty well with cash awards and garments; he should rein in the ministers and others who covertly harass the people. 31.
People follow the dharma (piety and morality) which the king himself promotes. In fact, the king determines the shape of time and the time has no power over the king. 32.
The four ages, namely; krita, treta, dvapara and kali take shape as the character of the king shapes them. Indeed, the king is the age. 33.
Here (in the science of polity), acquisition of wealth (yoga), protection of acquired wealth (ksema), good agricultural seasons (Suvrsti), diseases, fear and death among people are said to have their roots in the king’s governance. 34.
The king suffers in hell for a thousand years as the consequence of a single day spent by him disregarding his duty of protecting the people. 35.
The king enjoys for ten thousand years in heaven as the consequence of a single day spent in protecting the people as per the tenets of dharma. 36.
One-fourth part of the religious merit acquired by the people who follow dharma by being well-taken care of by their king accrues to the king himself. 37.
The wealth of his servants which is stolen by thieves and which cannot be recovered should be compensated to them by the king from his own treasure. 38.
A person who sees the royal treasure being spoiled and out of goodwill brings this to the king’s notice should be listened to in confidence. He should be protected even from the ministers. 39.
He (the King) should accord respect in all undertakings to those who are talented, learned, full of restraint, alert, brave, knowledgeable, truthful and belonging to reputable families. 40.
He should always provide for the livelihood of the poor, the less-supported, the old and widowed women. 41.
A king should provide clothing, utensils and food to the hermitages of ascetics. He should do this after honouring and worshiping them without guile. 42.
He should dedicate himself, all his works and his country to the holy men and should remain humble at all times. 43.
He should repose trust in them, in times of calamity; ‘even’ thieves repose trust in holy men. 44.
He should appoint one headman for each village. Hence, for ten such villages, there should be one such functionary each. In this way, for each hundred and thousand villages, he should appoint those many commanders. 45.
By doing this, he should defend the entire kingdom. In addition, he should act diligently in such a way that the people do not suffer. 46.
After having surveyed the income and expenditure of the merchants, traders and artisans and the nature of their trade, he should decide on the taxes to be levied on them. 47.
A king should never act impulsively by hearing the words of others. He should think over the matter and after ascertaining the facts, he should do what is appropriate for the case. 48.
Sinful persons who feign a pleasant disposition are easily found in this world whereas the speaker and the listener of that which is unpleasant but beneficial are indeed very rare. 49.
A king is assisted by aides who do not shy away from speaking what is beneficial to their Lordship keeping in view of dharma even if it is unpleasant. 50.
O great Brahmin, a wise king should not listen to the words of a person who is his kith and kin when those sweet-sounding words are likely to harm his interests. 51.
Thus ends the twenty fourth chapter entitled, ‘narration of six types of precautions in state craft,’ in the fifth Prakaran of Satsangi jivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as Dharmashastra (the rules of the code of conduct). 24