That man who seeks to advance
the interests of the king should always be protected by the king. If a
person, O Yudhishthira, that is paid or unpaid, comes to thee for telling
thee of the damage done to thy treasury when its resources are being
embezzled by a minister, thou shouldst grant him an audience in private
and protect him also from the (impeached) minister. The ministers guilty
of peculation seek, O Bharata, to slay such informants. They who plunder
the royal treasury combine together for opposing the person who seeks to
protect it, and if the latter be left unprotected, he is sure to be
ruined. In this connection also an old story is cited of what the sage
Kalakavrikshiya had said unto the king of Kosala. It hath been heard by
us that once on a time the sage Kalakavrikshiya came to Kshemadarsin who
had ascended the throne of the kingdom of Kosala. Desirous of examining
the conduct of all the officers of Kshemadarsin, the sage, with a crow
kept within a cage in his hand, repeatedly travelled through every part
of that king's dominions. And he spoke unto all the men and said, 'Study,
ye the corvine science. The crows tell me the present, the past, and the
future.' Proclaiming this in the kingdom, the sage, accompanied by a
large number of men, began to observe the misdeeds of all the officers of
the king. Having ascertained all the affairs in respect of that kingdom,
and having learnt that all the officers appointed by the king were guilty
of malversation, the sage, with his crow, came to see the king.
Pages:
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347