The king who is of righteous soul and truthful speech
succeeds in gratifying his subjects. Thou must not, however, O son always
behave with forgiveness towards everybody, for the king that is mild is
regarded as the worst of his kind like an elephant that is reft of
fierceness. In the scriptures composed by Vrihaspati, a Sloka was in days
of old applicable to the present matter. Hear it, O king as I recite it.
'If the king happens to be always forgiving, the lowest of persons
prevails over him, even as the driver who sits on the head of the
elephant he guides.' The king, therefore, should not always be mild. Nor
should he always be fierce. He should be like the vernal Sun, neither
cold nor so hot as to produce perspiration. By the direct evidence of the
senses, by conjecture, by comparisons, and by the canons, of the
scriptures O monarch, the king should Study friends and foes. O thou of
great liberality, thou shouldst avoid all those evil practices that are
called Vyasanas. It is not necessary that thou shouldst never indulge in
them. What, however, is needed is that thou shouldst not be attached to
them. He that is attached to those practices is prevailed over by
everyone. The king who cherishes no love for his people inspires the
latter with anxiety. The king should always bear himself towards his
subjects as a mother towards the child of her womb. Hear, O monarch, the
reason why this becomes desirable. As the mother, disregarding those
objects that are most cherished by her, seeks the good of her child
alone, even so, without doubt, should kings conduct themselves (towards
their subjects).
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