Mahabharata: Volume 8 (47 page)

‘Yudhishthira asked, “What should be the kind of city within which the king should himself dwell? Is it one that already exists, or should he get one constructed? O grandfather! Tell me this.”

‘Bhishma replied, “O Kounteya! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The place where he will reside with his sons, brothers and relatives must be properly checked, to ensure that it is protected and there is a means of sustenance. In particular, I will tell you about what must be done about fortifications. Having heard about this, you must make efforts to follow the injunctions. The cities must be constructed with the six kinds of forts in mind, so that there is sufficient prosperity and an abundance of every required object. The six forts are—those in the desert, those on the ground, those in mountains, those with men, those in the water and those in forests.
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The city must have forts and must be stocked with grain and weapons. There must
be firm walls and moats and it must be full of elephants, horses and chariots. There must be learned artisans there and there must be stores of every kind of requirement. It must be populated by excellent and accomplished people who follow dharma. There must be energetic men, elephants and horses and it must be adorned with crossroads and shops. There must be established rules of conduct, so that people are peaceful and without fear. It must be radiant, with the sound of activity.
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There must be extremely spacious houses. It must be full of brave and wealthy people and must resound with chants of the brahman. There must be congregations and festivals at which the gods are always worshipped. With his faithful advisers and soldiers, the king must himself reside within that city, conducting himself so that his treasury, forces and friends increase. He must restrain all the sins in the city and the countryside. He must make efforts to increase his stores of goods and his stores of weapons. He must increase all the collections of stores, machines, clubs, medicines, firewood, iron, grain chaff,
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charcoal, timber, horn, bones, bamboo, marrow, oil, fat, honey, medicines, flax, resins from the shala tree, grain, weapons, arrows, leather, sinews, cane, munja grass,
balbaja
grass
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and bows. The king must always control access to tanks and wells that contain a great deal of excellent water and also to giant trees that are full of juice.
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He must make efforts to treat preceptors, officiating priests and priests with a great deal of honour. There must be similar treatment for great archers, architects and astrologers. Those who are wise, intelligent, self-controlled, accomplished, brave, extremely learned, born in good lineages and full of enterprise must be appointed for all the tasks. The king must revere those who follow dharma and restrain those who follow adharma. He must make efforts to engage all the varnas in their own tasks. Spies must be engaged within and
outside. Having thus got to know, he must employ the people of the city and the countryside in different tasks. In particular, the king must himself attend to spies, the treasury and policy, because everything is established on this. Using spies as his eyes, he must know everything that the people in the city and the countryside wish to do, whether they are neutrals, enemies or friends. He must thus arrange everything, without being careless about anything. He must always honour those who are devoted and punish those who seek to cause injury. He must always perform rites and sacrifices and donate without any hesitation. It is his task to protect the subjects and not undertaking this task is to be censured. He must always think of a means of sustenance and arrange yoga and kshema for those who are miserable, those who have no protectors, those who are aged and those women who are widows. At the right time, the king must honour those who are in hermitages and treat them well with garments, vessels and food. He must always make efforts to stand before an ascetic and tell him about himself, all his tasks and his kingdom. When he sees a person who has given up everything, has been born in a noble lineage and is extremely learned, he must honour him with beds, seats and food. The king can trust him, even in an emergency. Even bandits trust an ascetic. The king will offer his possessions to him and obtain wisdom in return. However, he must not serve them all the time, or honour them excessively.
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He must seek out one
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from within his own kingdom, another from the kingdom of the enemy, another who resides in the forests and another who lives in the cities of the vassals. These must be honoured well and a means of sustenance arranged for them, irrespective of whether they reside in the kingdom of the enemy, in the forest, or within one’s own dominion. The ascetics are rigid in their vows. And if the king should ever desire to seek refuge with them in a time of hardship, they will offer this refuge. I have now briefly recounted to you the characteristics of the region and the city the king must himself reside in.”’

‘Yudhishthira asked, “O king! How can a kingdom be protected? How can a kingdom be won over? O bull among the Bharata lineage! I wish to understand this well. Please tell me.”

‘Bhishma replied, “I will tell you everything about how a kingdom should be protected and about how a kingdom can be won over. Listen with single-minded attention. One must appoint a headman for every village, then one for ten villages, one for twenty, one for one hundred and one for one thousand. The headman protects the village, ascertains any problems the village faces and reports everything about the villagers to the supervisor of ten, who reports to the supervisor of twenty. The supervisor of twenty reports everything about the conduct of the people who live in the countryside to the supervisor of one hundred villages. The village headman will sustain himself on whatever food is produced within the village and this will also be used to sustain the supervisor of ten and twenty. O best of the Bharata lineage! The supervisor of one hundred villages deserves to be honoured well and will be sustained by giving him a large village that is prosperous and well-populated village. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The king possesses many such. The supervisor of one thousand has the right to choose the best suburb.
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He is entitled to enjoy the grain and gold that the countryside produces.
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Whatever needs to be done in a village must be undertaken by the villagers themselves. However, an adviser who knows about dharma must attentively supervise this. In every town, there must be a supervisor who thinks about its welfare from every aspect. He must have the terrible form of a planet located above the nakshatras and himself circulate everywhere. He
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must check the sales, purchases, expenses, shops and routes of traders, impose taxes and act so that their yoga and kshema are ensured. He must glance towards the production and expenses of artisans, to ensure that they have a good living and the craft flourishes. The taxes must be commensurate.

‘“O Yudhishthira! Earlier, kings levied high taxes and low ones. The lord of the earth must act so that there is no deprivation anywhere. He must glance towards the outcome of a task and then determine taxes. It should never be such that there is no incentive for the work and the outcome.
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The king must always glance towards this and impose taxes so that both the king and the producer have a share in the outcome of the work. Because of his greed, he should not destroy his own foundation and that of others. The king must be benevolent and restrict his inclination to be avaricious. A king who consumes excessively is known for being hated. If one is hated, how can there be any benefit? One who is loved obtains happiness. An intelligent king will milk the kingdom like a calf that sucks milk. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! If the calf is nurtured, it becomes strong and can sustain hardships. O Yudhishthira! If a calf has drunk too much of milk, it
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cannot work. A kingdom that has been milked too much is incapable of achieving anything great. A king who tends to the kingdom himself and receives only that which can sustain him obtains great fruits.

‘“In this world, kings then accumulate enough for times of hardship. The kingdom becomes the treasury and the treasury becomes his residence.
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As long as he can, he should show compassion to all those who are close to him and the residents of the city and the countryside who are dependent on him and seek refuge with him. He must first crush the external ones and then enjoy
happiness from those who are in between.
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Thus, people have a share in the happiness and the unhappiness and are not enraged. He must announce the taxes in advance and then repeatedly show himself throughout the kingdom, instilling fear. ‘This is the adversity that confronts us. This is the great fear from the circle of enemies. Like a bamboo that has yielded fruit,
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one cannot contemplate that the danger will disappear. The enemy has arisen and there are many bandits with him. They wish to invade the kingdom and seize me. We are faced with this terrible and fearful danger. I need your riches to save ourselves from this. When the danger is over, I will return all of this to you. However, the enemy will not return anything that it has seized by force. You may have desired this store of riches for the sake of your sons and wives. But they will kill your wives and your own selves. I am delighted at your prosperity, but am appealing to you, like to my own sons. Without afflicting the kingdom, I will show you as much of favour as I can. This is a time of disaster and like good bulls, you must bear the burden. In this time of hardship, you should not act so as to be so enamoured of riches.’ A king who knows about the appropriate time should use such sweet, gentle and civil words. He should grasp the reins himself.

‘“For those who live on animal husbandry, he must ascertain the size of their pastures, the expenses of their servants, the dangers they face and their yoga and kshema. For those who live on animal husbandry, taxes must be imposed after that. If they are ignored, those who live on animal husbandry will be destroyed and begin to dwell in the forests.
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Therefore, having thought about this in advance, one must behave mildly towards them. O Partha! After glancing towards their requirements, it is a duty to show conciliation, protection, benevolence, stability, a share in prosperity and good behaviour towards those who live on animal husbandry. There are many fruits
that are always yielded by those who live on animal husbandry. They make the kingdom, trade and agriculture prosper. Therefore, one who is perceptive will make efforts to act pleasantly towards those who live on animal husbandry. One should be compassionate and careful and impose taxes that are mild. O son! For those who live on animal husbandry, the generation of wealth is always extremely easy. O Yudhishthira! There is no other wealth that is its equal.”’

‘Yudhishthira asked, “O immensely wise one! O grandfather! If a king is capable and wishes to extend his treasury, how should he behave? Tell me this.”

‘Bhishma replied, “A king who desires dharma should rule so that he is engaged in the welfare of his subjects and consider the time, the place and the strength. Since he thinks of welfare for them and for his own self, the king should ensure that dharma prevails in the kingdom in every way. He must milk the kingdom like a bee sucks honey and flies away.
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He must milk the cow bearing the calf in mind, without causing damage to the udders. The lord of men must drink mildly from the kingdom, like a leech. He must treat it the way a tigress carries her cub, not letting it fall, but not biting it. As the kingdom prospers, the taxes can progressively become less and less. Or, if he so desires, he can make them increase progressively. The burden on a young bull is gradually increased. The initial efforts are mild and the halter comes later. If the halter is imposed after good treatment, it does not become intractable. If one makes efforts with care, one is then able to enjoy. It is extremely difficult to behave in the same way towards all men. Having comforted the ones who are the foremost, one can then make the inferior one subservient. Dissension must be engineered among those who are likely to support each other. Having
comforted them, he can cheerfully make efforts to use them. Taxes must not be imposed on them at the wrong place, or at the wrong time. Having comforted them in advance, these must be at the right time and follow the proper norms. I have told you about legitimate means. I don’t wish to talk about techniques of deceit.

‘“Drinking houses, prostitutes, pimps, actors, gamblers and others who are like them must all be controlled.
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They can cause injury to the kingdom. If they are situated within the kingdom, they hamper gentle subjects. Unless there is a disaster, no one should ever beg. Manu had earlier laid down this dictum for all beings. If no one did any work, nothing would be able to survive. There is no doubt that the three worlds would then be destroyed. The lord and king who does not restrain these people
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reaps one-fourth of their sins. That is what the sacred texts say. He also obtains one-fourth of all dharma they observe. If one frequents these places,
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one’s prosperity is destroyed. A man who is addicted to desire is incapable of giving up undesirable acts. However, if there is a disaster, one can beg from others. Compassionate people who wish to show pity can then follow dharma and give. But in general, there should not be beggars in the kingdom. Nor should there be bandits. They seize what is good and do not think of anyone’s prosperity. Those who favour beings and encourage the prosperity of the subjects, those are the ones who should remain in the kingdom, not those who do not think about prosperity. O great king! Those who take excessive riches must be punished. Those who charge usurious rates must be forced to repay, through fines and taxes. Men must be employed, with many workers, to take care of agriculture, animal husbandry, trade and everything else that is like that. If a man who is engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry or trade suffers even the slightest bit of hardship, the king is to blame. The wealthy must always be honoured with vehicles, garments and food and be told, ‘Accept
these honours and also accept me.’ O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The wealthy are referred to as a great limb of the kingdom. There is no doubt that those who are wealthy are foremost among all people. The intelligent person
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must protect the wise, the brave, the rich, the powerful, those who follow dharma, the ascetics and the truthful. O king! Therefore, be pleasant towards everyone. Protect them through truth, rectitude, lack of anger and non-violence. You will then obtain the army, the treasury, the friends and the earth. Truth and uprightness are supreme. O king! You will then obtain friends and a treasury.”’