One should conciliate a foe with sweet assurances as if he were a
friend. One, however, should always stand in fear of that foe as living
in a room within which there is a snake. He whose understanding is to be
dominated by thee (with the aid of thine intellect) should be comforted
by assurances given in the past. He who is of wicked understanding should
be assured by promises of future good. The person, however, that is
possessed of wisdom, should be assured by present services. The person
who is desirous of achieving prosperity should join hands, swear, use
sweet words, worship by bending down his head, and shed tears.[420] One
should bear one's foe on one's shoulders as long as time is unfavourable.
When however, the opportunity has come, one should break him into
fragments like an earthen jar on a stone. It is better, O monarch that a
king should blaze up for a moment like charcoal of ebony-wood than that
he should smoulder and smoke like chaff for many years. A man who has
many purposes to serve should not scruple to deal with even an ungrateful
person. If successful, one can enjoy happiness. If unsuccessful, one
loses esteem. Therefore in accomplishing the acts of such persons, one
should, without doing them completely, always keep something unfinished.
A king should do what is for his good, imitating a cuckoo, a boar, the
mountains of Meru, an empty chamber, an actor, and a devoted friend.[421]
The king should frequently, with heedful application, repair to the
houses of his foes, and even if calamities befall them, ask them about
their good.
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