Chapter 23 - Description of fourteen types of Doshas in Raj-Dharma

Description of fourteen types of Doshas in Raj-Dharma. 

Shri Narayan Muni said:- 

A king should assiduously eschew the following fourteen vices as mentioned below. These are - heretical thinking, falsity, anger, negligence, procrastination, avoiding the learned, sloth and slavery to five sense organs. He should also avoid depending solely upon himself to understand the issues, depending on the opinions of the ignorant, not implementing the decisions already taken, not keeping secrets of the consultations (of his aides), avoiding auspicious actions (like offering worship to God) and taking military action against all enemies at one time. 1 - 3.

Twenty Purushas not worthy for performing Sandhi (executing treaty). 

A king should never have any sort of dealing with the following twenty kinds of people namely, a minor, an aged person, a coward, a long-time sick, a discard, a greedy person, one who is under the control of the greedy, an ascetic, a fearful one, a voluptuous one, a fickle-minded one, a person who is against the Lord and the Brahmins, an unlucky fellow, one who is a fatalist, one who suffers from famine-like calamities, one who has complaints about the army, one who is devoid of truth and piety, a foreigner and a hypocrite. 4 - 7. 

A King should not make a third person privy to secret consultations; he should sleep only for two Prahars (six hours) at night and early next morning, he should rise and cogitate on the advice (offered by his aides). 8. 

Recommended duties of King. 

He should train Kshatriya youths (princes) as warriors by employing excellent war-experts; he should select such experts, excluding thousands of unskilled ones. 9. 

A King should appoint as a priest a person whose personality is enriched by humility, who belongs to a good family, is well- informed, has a clear understanding and is free from envy. 10. 

He should appoint an excellent astrologer who is well- versed in all the branches of the scriptures to make forecasts regarding calamities of all kinds. 11. 

He should have a physician who is experienced and wise , well-versed in ashtang-ayur-veda and affectionate to him. 12. 

After having ascertained the adverse conditions (in the territory of the enemy) like five divine fears (fire, flood, disease, famine and epidemic) and five human fears (thieves, cheats, the enemy’s agents, the enemy and his greed), the King should undertake a military expedition to defeat his enemy. 13. 

To cause a rift in the enemy camp, a King should secretly offer valuable gifts (Ratna) to the prominent army officers and others as per their importance. 14. 

Before desiring to vanquish the enemies, a king should first overcome his own senses and his ego. Thereafter, he should have the desire to vanquish those Kings who are careless and who have no control over their senses. 15. 

A king should try to vanquish (his enemies) only after ascertaining the condition of a plentiful harvest or famine in the enemy’s kingdom. He should safeguard his own food, clothing, perfumes and so forth, by appointing trusted servants for that purpose. 16. 

A King should protect through dedicated, loyal and contented servants his treasury, granaries, vehicles, horses, elephants, gates of forts and palaces, incoming wealth and weaponry. 17.

A wise King should protect himself, his progeny, ministers and many others from internal and external enemies; he should guide them to protect each other. 18. 

He should replenish the treasury for expenses in times of bounty and famine. But the procedure of collecting taxes for these various conditions should be as follows:In times of famine, only one-fourth of the expected tax is to be collected. When there are just enough crops, a half of the expected tax is to be collected. When there is a bountiful harvest, –three-fourth of the expected tax is to be collected. He should never allow the treasury to go dry. 19. 

When overtaken by calamities, the castes and clans, preceptors and teachers, merchants and artisans taking shelter with him, should be constantly kept satisfied with grants of money and food-grains. 20. 

A King should never deprive his well-wishers, favourites and experienced (aided) of their authority without ascertaining their lapses; he should not give importance to ignorant people’s remarks in such matters. 21. 

In matters relating to dharma (law, morality and piety), he should appoint those who are well-versed in dharma. For deciding economic matters, he should entrust the task to the experts in this subject. To do work of (royal) women, he should appoint eunuchs and get menial jobs done by the lowly. 22. 

He should not appoint greedy and dull-witted person in matters relating to the finance and other services; he should appoint talented and unselfish men for all the works. 23.

If a foolish person, who is ignorant of the work is entrusted with the work, it causes hardship to people because of his incompetence, selfishness and hot temper. 24. 

Foreign policy, military equipments, Public welfare. 

After having offered evening prayers (Sandhya), he should listen to the secret reports of the spies; a shrewd king should ingratiate himself to the people of other countries. 25. 

He should win over the greedy with cash, the proud by honour and the coward by instilling fear in them; he should win over the learned by acquainting them with the truth. 26. 

When a foreign country falls into his hands, a king should follow the customs and traditions of that country meticulously. 27. 

He should create large water-reservoirs and distribute water to different parts of his kingdom. 28. 

He should appoint in each village five officials - administrator (Prasasta), tax- collector (Samaharta), law- officer (Samvidhata), record-keeper (Lekhak) and notary (Shaksi). They have to be well trained, efficient and should work in cohesion with each other. 29. 

He should develop cowherd’s settlements into villages and develop villages into towns (with all appropriate public services). A King should collect tax revenues in the established order. That is, the chief of a cowherd-settlement pays taxes to the village authorities; these should pay their collections to the town officials; they, in turn, should hand over their collections to the district (Desa) authority who should finally hand it over to the King. 30. 

A King should safeguard his women subjects and give them reassurance. However, he should not give much importance to what they say and should never speak confidential state matters in their presence. 31. 

Taking into consideration his own and his adversaries’ points of strength and weaknessess, a king, in consultation with his aides, should look into eight different fields of activities. (These are - agriculture, trade and commerce, forts, bridges, elephant crew, mines, tax- collection, and rehabilitation of devastated parts.) 32. 

He should undertake such work that is achievable by limited expenses but gives the best results. He should never cause any impediments to the agricultural activities of the Vaishyas because that may adversely affect his revenue. 33. 

He should fully equip all forts and garrisons with money, foodgrains, weapons, water and other equipments. In addition, he should also deploy there artisans, soldiers, archers etc. 34. 

A person who is always cheerful, valiant, intelligent, steadfast, honest, loving and is born in a reputed family should be appointed as the commander of the army. 35. 

A King should honour with wealth and titles and should offer enhanced salaries to those who perform their duty according to merit. 36.

An astute king should also honour with wealth and garments the learned and the well-versed in different scriptures, crafts and arts. 37. 

He should appoint wise and shrewd people to know the affairs of foreign countries; he should pay them their salaries in secrecy. 38. 

When a king notices a man indulging in evil and corrupt activities, he should arrest and put him in prison. He should never let him to act as he likes by the greed (of his proffered wealth). 39. 

He should never find fault on the basis of false rumours with a man who was originally poor but has become wealthy by luck. In fact, he should protect him from his ministers and others. 40. 

He should collect only regular taxes from the traders and merchants who come from far-off places with the hope of earning hefty profits. In fact, he should protect them from agents. 41. 

He should always listen to elderly and experienced experts in matters of piety (dharma) and finances (Artha). Moreover, he should always praise every successful person in people’s assembly. 42. 

Whatever dues are to be paid to all kinds of artisans for their wages and materials should be paid in full before Chaturmas (i.e. months from Shravana to Kartika). 43. 

He should protect the country from monsters, snakes, fire, tigers, and epidemics. In addition, he should take care of the blind, the mute, the physically handicapped and the crippled, like a father would. 44. 

A wise king should avoid especially the following six vices. These are: sleep and indolence, fear, anger, softness and procrastination. 45. 

Characteristics of teaching imparting knowledge. 

A king should first learn from a learned Brahmin the science of politics and morality. I shall now explain to you the qualifications of him (the teacher). 46. 

He should be well-versed in the Puranas and Itihasa (i.e. the Mahabharata). He should understand morality, law and religion; he should be a scholar of the Vedas and six ancillary scriptures of the Vedas and also a mature and talented speaker. 47. 

He should know what is important and what is unimportant, should have a sharp memory and moreover should be capable of deciding the matters relating to the four Purusharthas - dharma (piety), Artha (economics), Kama (means of living a happy and a comfortable life) and Moksha (attainments of the highest spiritual bliss) on the strength of scriptural authority (Pramanas). 48. 

He should be thoroughly acquainted with geography and should be an expert in the technique of six- fold diplomatic policy like treaties, wars and so forth. He should be competent to answer even in front of Brihaspati. 49. 

He should be skilled in reconciling diverse statements in the scriptures into a unified interpretation and likewise he should have the expert knowledge of logical syllogisms to discern correct and faulty arguments. 50. 

In addition, he should know the philosophy of Samkya and yoga and be acquainted with music, war strategies and archery. A person who possesses all these qualities is eligible to become a king’s teacher. 51. 

A king should sincerely learn from such a teacher; he should learn archery ethics and other scriptures from him. 52. 

A king should systematically study the actual use of all kinds of weapons and equipments like missiles along with their discharge and withdrawal and the science regarding (the training and use of) elephants, horses, chariots and others. 53. 

O Brahmin!, a king should keep his teacher happy by giving gifts of various kinds like garments, jewels, vehicles, ornaments, fees, golden vessels and a good residence. 54. 

Thus ends the twenty third chapter entitled, ‘narration of fourteen defects 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). 23