The divine Kavi (Usanas) of large eyes and
austere penances, the thousand-eyed Indra, and Manu the son of Prachetas,
the divine Bharadwaja, and the saga Gaurasiras, all devoted to Brahma and
utterers of Brahma, have composed treatises on the duties of kings. All
of them praise the duty of protection, O foremost of virtuous persons, in
respect of kings. O thou of eyes like lotus leaves and of the hue of
copper, listen to the means by which protection may be secured. Those
means consist of the employment of spies and servants, giving them their
just dues without haughtiness, the realisation of taxes with
considerateness, never taking anything (from the subject) capriciously
and without cause, O Yudhishthira, the selection of honest men (for the
discharge of administrative functions), heroism, skill, and cleverness
(in the transaction of business), truth, seeking the good of the people,
producing discord and disunion among the enemy by fair or unfair means,
the repair of buildings that are old or on the point of falling away, the
infliction of corporal punishments and fines regulated by observance of
the occasion, never abandoning the honest, granting employment and
protection to persons of respectable birth, the storing of what should be
stored, companionship with persons of intelligence, always gratifying the
soldiery, supervision over the subjects, steadiness in the transaction of
business, filling the treasury, absence of blind confidence on the guards
of the city, producing disloyalty among the citizens of a hostile town,
carefully looking after the friends and allies living in the midst of the
enemy's country, strictly watching the servants and officers of the
state, personal observation of the city, distrust of servants, comforting
the enemy with assurances, steadily observing the dictates of policy,
readiness for action, never disregarding an enemy, and casting off those
that are wicked.
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