Chapter 22 - Description of Special Dharma of Kings

Duties of a king, precautions to be taken by him and typesof vices, malpractices to be avoided.

Shri Narayan Muni said:-

Description of Special Dharma of Kings -The King occupying the throne always keeps his subjects happy as per the rule of law (dharma). One who acts in this way, is a King in the true sense of the word. 1.

A king should be a devotee of God and should revere Brahmins, be truthful, exercise restraint, be generous, have pleasing manners (with a smiling face) and be firm in the dharma. 2.

A King should never be too harsh or too lenient; he should be wise and pleasant like the sun in spring. He should promote the well-being of his subjects. 3.

A lenient King is always defied by his people; a very harsh King makes them feel disgusted. Therefore, a King should always maintain equanimity. 4.

A King should at all times judge his own men and those belonging to others (other Kings) by means of their traits and characteristics, by perceiving them, inferring (from their) actions and reactions, comparing them and in addition, by (agama) reading of their bodily marks (like palmistry). 5.

Eighteen addictions liable to be abandoned by the king.

He should avoid hunting, gambling, day-time sleeping, raillery and drinking. He should avoid engaging in too much sex, music, amusement, wickedness, back-biting, treachery and thoughtless ventures. Harsh language, severe punishment, jealousy, envy and mismanagement of wealth- all these are eighteen vices a wise King should avoid. 6 - 7.

Among these the first ten vices are born of self- indulgence and the remaining eight are born out of fury. The king should know that both of these lead to hell and therefore, he should strive to keep himself away from them. 8.

As a pregnant woman discards what pleases her and accepts what is good for the foetus, so should a King discard what is pleasing to him and do what is good for the people. 9.

A King should not indulge in pleasantries with his servants; too much closeness tempts them to transgress their limits. (In that case) they do not remain at their place of duty, lose temper and talk arrogantly. When sent on work, they find their own alternatives and transgress his order. 10 - 11.

They get too close to female servants and in front of the King, behave shamelessly with them; thereafter, they dress like the King and get into his carriage. 12.

What more to say, they disregard the King’s might in the royal court and harass the weak. 13.

Therefore, the King should not be over-ecstatic and should behave in a proper manner. Moreover, he should be ever busy, courageous and should inspire fear in the enemies. 14.

Seven organs of State worthy to have knowledge about.

The King, the ministers, the allies, the treasury, the territory, forts and the army- these seven are the constituents of a kingdom (Prakruti); the King should severely punish anyone who tries to harm them. 15.

He should collect grains as taxes in such a way that they are not damaged by rain and that too with the owner’s permission and at the appropriate time. 16.

Abiding by the scriptures resolutely, the King must never deviate from the path of truth. Overcoming wrath, he should resort to the Purusharthas whilst being unobstructed. 17.

He should safeguard the duties and obligations of different castes and stages strenuously; he should not repose trust in anybody and everybody without assessing the intentions of the other party. 18.

He should clearly understand distinctive battle-worthy territories for elephants and for cavalry and many others from the study of their features. He should know the appropriate times for the four kinds of itineraries and exceptional actions inemergency (Apaddharma). 19.

Six qualities:- 

In addition, he should understand (the plausibility of) peace-treaty, war, military, advance duplicity, support (from allies) and remaining steady (as per the circumstances). These are the six types of strategies on which he should take decisions accordingly. 20.

Fifteen Tirthas of State.

He should regularly listen to the Dharmashastras and the Puranas and deploy spies amongst his own high functionaries and in the enemy camps. 21.

A shrewd King should safeguard from the enemy’s spies the following officials of his own kingdom namely, the army-chief, guards at the gates, military guides, the in-charge of the harem, prison-in-charge, judges, treasurer, mayors, pay-masters, magistrates, chairmen of assemblies, protectors of the countryside, garrison commanders, forest guards and other important functionaries of fifteen different categories. 22 - 24.

He should employ secret agents in the enemy-camp (to spy on) their ministers, the heir-apparent, the royal-priests and the important state functionaries. 25.

Ministers, territories, forts, treasure and the army- these five should be understood as the basic constituents (Prakruti panchak) of one’s kingdom as also of other kingdoms. 26. 

After having ascertained the conditions of stability, growth or reduction in the strengths of these ten constituents - (one’s own and of enemy side), a King should undertake military expedition to defeat the enemy. 27. 

Following the footsteps of the good in the matters of conduct, a King should keep away from avarice, should see through the spies with his eyes and should speak politely with a smile. He should always be at the service of the veterans. 28. 

He should provide sustenance to those who need it and should assess the sustenance of those who get it; his conduct should be honest and he should himself dole out rewards and punishments. 29. 

A King who is sceptical about all, who is full of fury, who is bent on depriving (others) of all possessions and who is rude and greedy is put to death by his own people. 30. 

A king should select his counsellors from only those who are healthy, belong to good families, are devotees of God, brave, untouchable by adversaries, discriminating, self-respecting and also respectful to others. His counsellors should be learned, firm, acquainted with the activities of the world and caring for the next world. They should be devoted to their duty and be men of complete honesty. 31 - 32

Except for the royal parasol (Chhatra) and the royal diktats, he should grant them equal perquisites and privileges (Bhoga).Directly or indirectly, they are his equals and he should not resent this fact. 33. 

He should conduct surveys of old buildings (for repairs); and pay attention to the poor and those in suffering. He should regularly undertake expeditions (to keep all on their toes and to create fear in to foes) and pay respect to the talented. 34. 

Prompt in action, merciful, solemn and free from guile, a king should protect his subjects as he would protect his own children. 35. 

Only such a type of king deserves a kingship (or kingdom), in whose realm live people joyfully without concealing their wealth, free from fear and dedicated to piety (dharma). 36. 

Protection of the subjects is said to be the highest duty (dharma) of the king; by virtue of that alone he becomes the beneficiary of a quarter of their religious merit. 37. 

When in the old times dharma had fallen into calamity, Vishnu himself created a king on this earth (for the protection of dharma). Hence, it is therefore the king who should protect dharma. 38. 

Chastising the impious, apprehending thieves and putting them to death (if needed), the king should stabilise his subjects on the path of dharma by instilling in them the fear of punishment. 39.

After having thoroughly understood the science of ethics, a king should award punishment consistently even if the guilty were his son or his enemy. ‘O great Brahmin, he should never punish the innocent, etc), or else he will not be considered a perfect king. 40. 

Thus ends the twenty second chapter entitled, ‘narration of various aspects of state craft and emergency measures,’ in the fifth Prakaran of Satsangi jivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as Dharmashastra (the rules of the code of conduct). 22