A king that is heedless is always
overpowered by others. A wicked man assumes the garb of honesty, and he
that is honest becomes otherwise. A foe may become a friend and a friend
may become a foe. A man cannot always be of the same mind. Who is there
that would trust him completely? All the chief acts, therefore, of a king
he should accomplish in his own presence. A complete reliance (on his
ministers) is destructive of both morality and profit. A want of trust
again in respect of all is worse than death. Trustfulness is premature
death. One incurs danger by truthfulness. If one trusts another
completely, he is said to live by the sufferance of the trusted person.
For this reason every one should be trusted as also mistrusted. This
eternal rule of policy, O sire, should be kept in view. One should always
mistrust that person who would, upon one's desire, obtain one's wealth.
The wise declare such a person to be one's enemy. A person whose joy
knows no bounds upon beholding the aggrandisement of the king and who
feels miserable upon seeing the king's decay, furnishes the indications
of one of the best friends of the king. He whose fall would be brought
about by thy fall, should be trusted by thee completely even as thou
shouldst trust thy sire. Thou shouldst, to the best of thy power,
aggrandise him as thou winnest aggrandisement for thyself. One who, in
even thy religious rites, seeks to rescue thee from harm, would seek to
rescue thee from harm's way in every other business.
Pages:
1316
1317
1318
1319
1320
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340