The king's minister should be
conversant with the conclusions of the scriptures and competent in
directing wars and making treaties. He should, further, be intelligent,
possessed of courage, modest, and capable of keeping secrets. He should
also be of high birth endued with strength of mind, and pure in conduct.
If possessed of these qualities, he should be regarded worthy. The
commander of the king's forces should be possessed of similar
accomplishments. He should also be conversant with the different kinds of
battle array and with the uses of engines and weapons. He should be able
to bear exposure to rain, cold, heat, and wind, and watchful of the
laches of foes. The king, O monarch, should be able to lull his foes into
a sense of security. He should not, however, himself trust anyone. The
reposing of confidence on even his own son is not to be approved of. I
have now, O sinless one, declared to thee what the conclusions of the
scriptures are. Refusal to trust anyone has been said to be one of the
highest mysteries of king-craft.'"
SECTION LXXXVI
"Yudhishthira said, 'What should be the kind of city within which the
king should himself dwell? Should he select one already made or should he
cause one to be especially constructed? Tell me this O grandsire!'
"Bhishma said, 'It is proper, O Bharata, to enquire about the conduct
that should be followed and the defences that should be adopted with
respect to the city in which, O son of Kunti, a king should reside.
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