The king should first subdue himself and then
seek to subdue his foes. How should a king who has not been able to
conquer his own self be able to conquer his foes? The conquest of these,
viz., the aggregate of five, is regarded as the conquest of self. The
king that has succeeded in subduing his senses is competent to resist his
foes. He should place bodies of foot-soldiers in his forts, frontiers,
towns, parks, and pleasure gardens, O delighter of the Kurus, as also in
all places where he himself goes, and within his own palace, O tiger
among men! He should employ as spies men looking like idiots or like
those that are blind and deaf. Those should all be persons who have been
thoroughly examined (in respect of their ability), who are possessed of
wisdom, and who are able to endure hunger and thirst. With proper
attention, the king should set his spies upon all his counsellors and
friends and sons, in his city and the provinces, and in dominions of the
chiefs under him. His spies should be so employed that they may not know
one another. He should also, O bull of Bharata's race, know the spies of
his foes by himself setting spies in shops and places of amusement, and
concourses of people, among beggars, in his pleasure gardens and parks,
in meetings and conclaves of the learned, in the country, in public
places, in places where he holds his own court, and in the houses of the
citizens. The king possessed of intelligence may thus ascertain the spies
despatched by his foes.
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