"'Yudhishthira said, "How, O king, may a kingdom be consolidated, and how
should it be protected? I desire to know this. Tell me all this, O bull
of Bharata's race!"
"'Bhishma said, "Listen to me with concentrated attention. I shall tell
thee how a kingdom may be consolidated, and how also it may be protected.
A headman should be selected for each village. Over ten villages (or ten
headmen) there should be one superintendent. Over two such
superintendents there should be one officer (having the control,
therefore, of twenty villages). Above the latter should be appointed
persons under each of whom should be a century of villages; and above the
last kind of officers, should be appointed men each of whom should have a
thousand villages under his control. The headman should ascertain the
characteristics of every person in the village and all the faults also
that need correction. He should report everything to the officer (who is
above him and is) in charge of ten villages. The latter, again, should
report the same to the officer (who is above him and is) in charge of
twenty villages. The latter, in his turn, should report the conduct of
all the persons within his dominion to the officer (who is above him and
is) in charge of a hundred villages. The village headman should have
control over all the produce and the possessions of the village. Every
headman should contribute his share for maintaining the lord of ten
villages, and the latter should do the same for supporting the lord of
twenty villages. The lord of a hundred villages should receive every
honour from the king and should have for his support a large village, O
chief of the Bharatas, populous and teeming with wealth. Such a village,
so assigned to a lord of hundred villages, should be, however, within the
control of the lord of a thousand villages. That high officer, again,
viz., the lord of a thousand villages, should have a minor town for his
support. He should enjoy the grain and gold and other possessions
derivable from it. He should perform all the duties of its wars and other
internal affairs pertaining to it. Some virtuous minister, with
wrathfulness should exercise supervision over the administration affairs
and mutual relations of those officers. In every town, again, there
should be an officer for attending to every matter relating to his
jurisdiction. Like some planet of dreadful form moving above all the
asterisms below, the officer (with plenary powers) mentioned last should
move and act above all the officers subordinate to him. Such an officer
should ascertain the conduct of those under him through his spies. Such
high officers should protect the people from all persons of murderous
disposition, all men of wicked deeds, all who rob other people of their
wealth, and all who are full of deceit, and all of whom are regarded to
be possessed by the devil. Taking note of the sales and the purchases,
the state of the roads, the food and dress, and the stocks and profits of
those that are engaged in trade, the king should levy taxes on them.
Ascertaining on all occasions the extent of the manufactures, the
receipts and expenses of those that are engaged in them, and the state of
the arts, the king should levy taxes upon the artisans in respect of the
arts they follow. The king, O Yudhishthira, may take high taxes, but he
should never levy such taxes as would emasculate his people. No tax
should be levied without ascertaining the outturn and the amount of
labour that has been necessary to produce it. Nobody would work or seek
for outturns without sufficient cause.[251] The king should, after
reflection, levy taxes in such a way that he and the person who labours
to produce the article taxed may both share the value. The king should
not, by his thirst, destroy his own foundations as also those of others.
He should always avoid those acts in consequence of which he may become
an object of hatred to his people. Indeed, by acting in this way he may
succeed in winning popularity. The subjects hate that king who earns a
notoriety for voraciousness of appetite (in the matter of taxes and
imposts). Whence can a king who becomes an object of hatred have
prosperity? Such a king can never acquire what is for his good. A king
who is possessed of sound intelligence should milk his kingdom after the
analogy of (men acting in the matter of) calves. If the calf be permitted
to suck, it grows strong, O Bharata, and bears heavy burthens. If, on the
other hand, O Yudhishthira, the cow be milked too much, the calf becomes
lean and fails to do much service to the owner. Similarly, if the kingdom
be drained much, the subjects fail to achieve any act that is great. That
king who protects his kingdom himself and shows favour to his subjects
(in the matter of taxes and imposts) and supports himself upon what is
easily obtained, succeeds in earning many grand results. Does not the
king then obtain wealth sufficient for enabling him to cope with his
wants?[252] The entire kingdom, in that case, becomes to him his
treasury, while that which is his treasury becomes his bed chamber. If
the inhabitants of the cities and the provinces be poor, the king should,
whether they depend upon him immediately or mediately, show them
compassion to the best of his power. Chastising all robbers that infest
the outskirts, the king should protect the people of his villages and
make them happy. The subjects, in the case, becoming sharers of the
king's weal and woe, feel exceedingly gratified with him. Thinking, in
the first instance, of collecting wealth, the king should repair to the
chief centres of his kingdom one after another and endeavour to inspire
his people with fright. He should say unto them, 'Here, calamity
threatens us. A great danger has arisen in consequence of the acts of the
foe. There is every reason, however, to hope that the danger will pass
away, for the enemy, like a bamboo that has flowered, will very soon meet
with destruction. Many foes of mine, having risen up and combined with a
large number of robbers, desire to put our kingdom into difficulties, for
meeting with destruction themselves. In view of this great calamity
fraught with dreadful danger, I solicit your wealth for devising the
means of your protection. When the danger passes away, I will give you
what I now take. Our foes, however, will not give back what they (if
unopposed) will take from you by force. On the other hand (if unopposed),
they will even slay all your relatives beginning with your very spouses.
You certainly desire wealth for the sake of your children and wives. I am
glad at your prosperity, and I beseech you as I would my own children. I
shall take from you what it may be within your power to give me. I do not
wish to give pain to any one. In seasons of calamity, you should, like
strong bulls, bear such burthens. In seasons of distress, wealth should
not be so dear to you.' A king conversant with the considerations relating
to Time should, with such agreeable, sweet, and complimentary words, send
his agents and collect imposts from his people. Pointing out to them the
necessity of repairing his fortifications and of defraying the expenses
of his establishment and other heads, inspiring them with the fear of
foreign invasion, and impressing them with the necessity that exists for
protecting them and enabling them to ensure the means of living in peace,
the king should levy imposts upon the Vaisyas of his realm. If the king
disregards the Vaisyas, they become lost to him, and abandoning his
dominions remove themselves to the woods. The king should, therefore,
behave with leniency towards them. The king, O son of Pritha, should
always conciliate and protect the Vaisyas, adopt measures for inspiring
them with a sense of security and for ensuring them in the enjoyment of
what they possess, and always do what is agreeable to them. The king, O
Bharata, should always act in such a way towards the Vaisyas that their
productive powers may be enhanced. The Vaisyas increase the strength of a
kingdom, improve its agriculture, and develop its trade. A wise king,
therefore, should always gratify them. Acting with heedfulness and
leniency, he should levy mild imposts upon them. It is always easy to
behave with goodness towards the Vaisyas. There is nothing productive of
greater good to a kingdom, O Yudhishthira, then the adoption of such
behaviour towards the Vaisyas of the realm."'"