"'Yudhishthira said, "O foremost of kings, what is that method by which a
king ruling his subjects may, in consequence of it, obtain great
blessedness and eternal fame?"
"'Bhishma said, "A king of cleansed soul and attentive to the duty of
protecting his subjects earns merit and fame, both here and hereafter, by
conducting himself righteously."
"'Yudhishthira said, "With whom should the king behave in what way? Asked
by me, O thou of great wisdom, it behoveth thee to tell me everything
duly. Those virtues of which thou hast already spoken with respect to a
person, cannot, it is my belief, be found to exist in any single
individual."
"'Bhishma said, "Thou art endued with great intelligence, O Yudhishthira!
It is even so as thou sayest. The person is very rare who is possessed of
all those good qualities. To be brief, conduct like this (viz., the
presence of all the virtues spoken of), is very difficult to be met with
even upon careful search. I shall, however, tell thee what kinds of
ministers should be appointed by thee. Four Brahmanas, learned in the
Vedas, possessed of a sense of dignity, belonging to the Snataka order,
and of pure behaviour, and eight Kshatriyas, all of whom should be
possessed of physical strength and capable of wielding weapons, and one
and twenty Vaisyas, all of whom should be possessed of wealth, and three
Sudras, every one of whom should be humble and of pure conduct and devoted
to his daily duties, and one man of the Suta caste, possessed of a
knowledge of the Puranas and the eight cardinal virtues, should be thy
ministers. Every one of them should be fifty years of age, possessed of a
sense of dignity, free from envy, conversant with the Srutis and the
Smritis, humble, impartial, competent to readily decide in the midst of
disputants urging different courses of action, free from covetousness,
and from the seven dreadful vices called Vyasanas. The king should
consult with those eight ministers and hold the lead among them. He
should then publish in his kingdom, for the information of his subjects,
the results of such deliberation. Thou shouldst always, adopting such a
conduct, watch over thy people. Thou shouldst never confiscate what is
deposited with thee or appropriate as thine the thing about whose
ownership two persons may dispute. Conduct such as this would spoil the
administration of justice. If the administration of justice be thus
injured, sin will afflict thee, and afflict thy kingdom as well, and
inspire thy people with fear as little birds at the sight of the hawk.
Thy kingdom will then melt away like a boat wrecked on the sea. If a king
governs his subjects with unrighteousness, fear takes possession of his
heart and the door of heaven is closed against him. A kingdom, O bull
among men, has its root in righteousness. That minister, or king's son,
who acts unrighteously, occupying the seat of justice, and those officers
who having accepted the charge of affairs, act unjustly, moved by
self-interest, all sink in hell along with the king himself. Those
helpless men who are oppressed by the powerful and who indulge on that
account in piteous and copious lamentations, have their protector in the
king. In cases of dispute between two parties the decision should be
based upon the evidence of witnesses. If one of the disputants has no
witnesses and is helpless, the king should give the case his best
consideration. The king should cause chastisement to be meted out to
offenders according to the measure of their offences. They that are
wealthy should be punished with fines and confiscations; they that are
poor, with loss of liberty. Those that are of very wicked conduct should
be chastised by the king with even corporal inflictions. The king should
cherish all good men with agreeable speeches and gifts of wealth. He who
seeks to compass the death of the king should be punished with death to
be effected by diverse means. The same should be the punishment of one
who becomes guilty of arson or theft or such co-habitation with women as
may lead to a confusion of castes. A king, O monarch, who inflicts
punishments duly and conformably to the dictates of the science of
chastisement, incurs no sin by the act. On the other hand, he earns merit
that is eternal. That foolish king who inflicts punishments capriciously,
earns infamy here and sinks into hell hereafter. One should not be
punished for the fault of another. Reflecting well upon the (criminal)
code, a person should be convicted or acquitted. A king should never slay
an envoy under any circumstances. That king who slays an envoy sinks
into hell with all his ministers. That king observant of Kshatriya
practices who slays an envoy that faithfully utters the message with
which he is charged, causes the manes of his deceased ancestors to be
stained with the sin of killing a foetus. An envoy should possess these
seven accomplishments, viz., he should be high-born, of a good family,
eloquent, clever, sweet-speeched, faithful in delivering the message with
which he is charged, and endued with a good memory. The aid-de-camp of
the king that protects his person should be endued with similar
qualities. The officer also that guards his capital or citadel should
possess the same accomplishments. The king's minister should be
conversant with the conclusions of the scriptures and competent in
directing wars and making treaties. He should, further, be intelligent,
possessed of courage, modest, and capable of keeping secrets. He should
also be of high birth endued with strength of mind, and pure in conduct.
If possessed of these qualities, he should be regarded worthy. The
commander of the king's forces should be possessed of similar
accomplishments. He should also be conversant with the different kinds of
battle array and with the uses of engines and weapons. He should be able
to bear exposure to rain, cold, heat, and wind, and watchful of the
laches of foes. The king, O monarch, should be able to lull his foes into
a sense of security. He should not, however, himself trust anyone. The
reposing of confidence on even his own son is not to be approved of. I
have now, O sinless one, declared to thee what the conclusions of the
scriptures are. Refusal to trust anyone has been said to be one of the
highest mysteries of king-craft."'"