But the sinner, gaining advancement by sinful ways, becomes
wedded to sin. Thinking that virtue has no efficacy, he jeers at men of
righteous behaviour. Disbelieving in virtue, he at last meets with
destruction. Though enmeshed in the noose of Varuna, he still regards
himself immortal. Like unto a large leathern bag puffed up with wind, the
sinner dissociates himself entirely from virtue. Soon, however, he
disappears like a tree on the riverside washed away with its very roots.
Then people, beholding him resemble an earthen pot broken on a stony
surface, speak of him as he deserves. The king should, therefore, seek
both victory and the enhancement of his resources, by righteous means.'"
SECTION XCVI
"Bhishma said, 'A king should never desire to subjugate the earth by
unrighteous means, even if such subjugation would make him the sovereign
of the whole earth. What king is there that would rejoice after obtaining
victory by unfair means? A victory stained by unrighteousness is
uncertain and never leads to heaven. Such a victory, O bull of Bharata's
race, weakens both the king and the earth. A warrior whose armour has
fallen off, or who begs for quarter, saying, 'I am thine' or joining his
hands, or who has laid aside his weapon, may simply be seized but never
slain. If a hostile king be vanquished by the troops of the invader, the
latter should not himself fight his vanquished foe. On the other hand, he
should bring him to his palace and persuade him for a whole year to say,
'I am thy slave!' Whether he says or does not say this, the vanquished
foe, by living for a year in the house of his victor, gains a new lease
of life.
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