He should cause the branches of all the larger trees to be lopped off, but he should not touch the very leaves of those called Chaitya. He should raise outer ramparts round his forts, with enclosures in them, and fill his trenches with water, driving pointed stakes at their bottom and filling them with crocodiles and sharks. He should keep small openings in his walls for making sallies from his fort, and carefully make arrangements for their defence like that of the greater gates.[221] In all his gates he should plant destructive engines. He should plant on the ramparts (of his forts) Sataghnis and other weapons. He should store wood for fuel and dig and repair wells for supply of water to the garrison. He should cause all houses made of grass and straw to be plastered over with mud, and if it is the summer month, he should, from fear of fire, withdraw (into a place of safety) all the stores of grass and straw. He should order all food to be cooked at night. No fire should be ignited during the day, except for the daily homa. Particular care should be taken of the fires in smithies and lying-in rooms.
Fires kept within the houses of the inhabitants should be well covered. For the effectual protection of the city, it should be proclaimed that condign punishment will overtake the person who lights fires by the day time. During such times, all beggars, eunuchs, lunatics, and mimes, should, O foremost of men, be driven out of the town, for if they are permitted to remain, evil will follow. In places of public resort, in tirthas, in assemblies, and in the houses of the citizens, the king should set competent spies.[222] The king should cause wide roads to be constructed and order shops, and places for the distribution of water, to be opened at proper stations. Depots (of diverse necessaries), arsenals, camps and quarters for soldiers, stations for the keeping of horses and elephants, encampments of soldiers, trenches, streets and bypaths, houses and gardens for retirement and pleasure, should be so ordered that their sites may not be known to others, O Yudhishthira. A king who is afflicted by a hostile army should gather wealth, and store oil and fat and honey, and clarified butter, and medicines of all kinds, and charcoal and munja grass, leaves, arrows, scribes and draftsmen, grass, fuel, poisoned arrows, weapons of every kind such as darts, swords, lances, and others. The king should store such articles.
He should especially keep ready drugs of every kind, roots and fruits, the four kinds of physicians, actors and dancers, athletes, and persons capable of assuming diverse disguises. He should decorate his capital and gladden all his subjects. The king should lose no time in bringing under his control such persons as may happen to inspire him with fear, be they his servants or counsellors or citizens or neighbouring monarchs. After any task of the king has been accomplished, he should reward that those that have aided in its accomplishment with wealth and other proportionate gifts and thankful speeches. It has been laid down in the scriptures, O delighter of the Kurus, that a king pays off his debt when he discomfits his foe or slays him outright.[223] A king should take care of seven things. Listen to me as I recite them. They are his own self, his counsellors, his treasury, his machinery for awarding punishments, his friends, his provinces, and his capital. He should with care protect his kingdom which consists of these seven limbs. That king, O tiger among men, who is conversant with the aggregate of six, the triple aggregate, and the high aggregate of three, succeeds in winning the sovereignty of the whole earth.
Listen, O Yudhishthira, to what has been called the aggregate of six. These are ruling in peace after concluding a treaty (with the foe), marching to battle, producing disunion among the foe, concentration of forces, for inspiring the foe with fear, preparedness for war with readiness for peace, and alliance with others. Listen now with attention to what has been called the triple aggregate. They are decrease, maintenance of what is, and growth. The high aggregate of three consists of Virtue, Profit and Pleasure. These should be pursued judiciously. By the aid of virtue, a king succeeds in ruling the earth for ever. Touching this matter, Angirasa’s son: Vrihaspati himself has sung two verses. Blessed be thou, O son of Devaki, it behoveth thee to hear them. ‘Having discharged all his duties and having protected the earth, and having also protected his cities, a king attains to great happiness in heaven. What are penances to that king, and what need has he of sacrifices who protects his people properly? Such a king should be regarded as one conversant with every virtue!’
Yudhishthira said, ‘There is the science of chastisement, there is the king, and there are the subjects. Tell me, O grandsire, what advantage is derived by one of these from the others.’
Bhishma said, ‘Listen to me, O king, as I describe, O Bharata, the great blessedness of the science of chastisement, in sacred words of grave import. The science of chastisement forces all men to the observance of the duties of their respective orders. Duly administered, it forces people to virtuous acts.[224] When the four orders attend to their respective duties, when all wholesome barriers are maintained, when peace and happiness are made to flow from the science of chastisement, when the people become freed from all fear, and the three higher orders endeavour, according to their respective duties, to maintain harmony, know that men become truly happy at such times. Whether it is the king that makes the age, or, it is the age that makes the king, is a question about which thou shouldst not entertain any doubt. The truth is that the king makes the age. When, the king rules with a complete and strict reliance on the science of chastisement, the foremost of ages called Krita is then said to set in.[225] Righteousness sets in the Krita age. Nothing of unrighteousness exists then.
The hearts of men belonging to all the four orders do not take any pleasure in unrighteousness. Without doubt, all men succeed in acquiring the objects they desire and preserving those that have been acquired. All the Vedic rites become productive of merit. All the seasons become delightful and free from evil. The voice, pronunciation, and minds of all men become clear and cheerful. Diseases disappear and all men become long-lived. Wives do not become widows, and no person becomes a miser. The earth yields crops without being tilled, and herbs and plants grow in luxuriance. Barks, leaves, fruits, and roots, become vigorous and abundant. No unrighteousness is seen. Nothing but righteousness exists. Know these to be the characteristics, O Yudhishthira, of the Krita age. When the king relies upon only three of the four parts of the science of chastisement leaving out a fourth, the age called Treta sets in. A fourth part of unrighteousness follows in the train of such observance (of the great science) by three-fourths. The earth yields crops but waits for tillage. The herbs and plants grow (depending upon tillage). When the king observes the great science by only a half, leaving out the other half, then the age that sets in is called Dwapara. A moiety of unrighteousness follows in the train of such observance of the great science by half. The earth requires tillage and yields crops by half.
When the king, abandoning the great science totally, oppresses his subjects by evil means of diverse kinds, the age that sets in is called Kali. During the age called Kali, unrighteousness becomes full and nothing of righteousness is seen. The hearts of men, of all the orders, fall away from their respective duties. Sudras live by adopting lives of mendicancy, and Brahmanas live by serving others. Men fail to acquire the objects they desire and preserve those already acquired. Intermixture of the four orders takes place. Vedic rites fail to produce fruits. All the seasons cease to be delightful and become fraught with evil. The voice, pronunciation, and minds of men lose vigour. Diseases appear, and men die prematurely. Wives become widows, and many cruel men are seen. The clouds do not pour seasonably, and crops fail. All kinds of moisture also fail, when the king does not, with proper attention to the great science, protect the subjects. The king is the creator of the Krita age, of the Treta, and of the Dwapara. The king is the cause of the fourth age (called Kali). If he causes the Krita age, he attains to everlasting heaven.
If he causes the Treta age, he acquires heaven for a period that is limited. If he causes the Dwapara, he attains to blessedness in heaven according to the measure of his merits. By causing the Kali age, the king incurs a heavy load of sin. Stained by wickedness, he rots in hell for innumerable years, for sinking in the sins of his subjects, he incurs great sin and infamy himself. Keeping the great science in his view, the Kshatriya possessed of learning should strive to acquire those objects which he desires and protect those that have been already acquired. The science of chastisement, which establishes all men in the observance of their respective duties, which is the groundwork of all wholesome distinctions, and which truly upholds the world and sets it agoing, if properly administered, protects all men like the mother and the father protecting their children. Know, O bull among men, that the very lives of creatures depend upon it. The highest merit a king can acquire is acquaintance with the science of chastisement and administering it properly. Therefore, O thou of Kuru’s race, protect thy subjects righteously, with the aid of that great science. By protecting the subjects and adopting such a conduct, thou wilt surely attain to such blessedness in heaven as is difficult of acquisition.”
