There is nothing productive of
greater good to a kingdom, O Yudhishthira, then the adoption of such
behaviour towards the Vaisyas of the realm.'"
SECTION LXXXVIII
"Yudhishthira said: 'Tell me, O grandsire, how should the king should
behave if, notwithstanding his great wealth, he desires for more.'
"Bhishma said, 'A king, desirous of earning religious merit, should
devote himself to the good of his subjects and protect them according to
considerations of place and time and to the best of his intelligence and
power. He should, in his dominions, adopt all such measures as would in
his estimation secure their good as also his own. A king should milk his
kingdom like a bee gathering honey from plants.[253] He should act like
the keeper of a cow who draws milk from her without boring her udders and
without starving the calf. The king should (in the matter of taxes) act
like the leech drawing blood mildly. He should conduct himself towards
his subjects like a tigress in the matter of carrying her cubs, touching
them with her teeth but never piercing them therewith. He should behave
like a mouse which though possessed of sharp and pointed teeth still cuts
the feet of sleeping animals in such a manner that they do not at all
become conscious of it. A little by little should be taken from a growing
subject and by this means should he be shorn. The demand should then be
increased gradually till what is taken assumes a fair proportion. The
king should enhance the burthens of his subjects gradually like a person
gradually increasing the burthens of a young bullock.
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