"Bhishma said, 'Having once more assumed his proper form, the dog became
very cheerless. The Rishi, reproving him, drove the sinful creature from
his hermitage. An intelligent king should, guided by this precedent,
appoint servants, each fit for the office assigned to him, and exercise
proper supervision over them, having first ascertained their
qualifications in respect of truthfulness and purity, sincerity, general
disposition, knowledge of the scripture, conduct, birth, self-restraint,
compassion, strength, energy, dignity, and forgiveness. A king should
never take a minister without first having examined him. If a king
gathers round him persons of low birth, he can never be happy. A person
of high birth, even if persecuted without any fault by his royal master,
never sets his heart, in consequence of the respectability of his blood,
upon injuring his master. An individual, however, that is mean and of low
birth, having obtained even great affluence from his connection with some
honest man, becomes an enemy of the latter if only he is reproached in
words. A minister should be possessed of high birth and strength; he
should be forgiving and self-restrained, and have all his sense under
control; he should be free from the vice of rapacity, contented with his
just acquisitions, delighted with the prosperity of his master and
friends, conversant with the requirements of place and time, ever
employed in attaching men to himself or his master by doing good offices
to them, always attentive to his duties, desiring the good of his master,
always heedful, faithful in the discharge of his own duties., a thorough
master of the art of war and peace, conversant with the king's
requirements in respect of the great aggregate of three, beloved by both
the citizens and the inhabitants of the provinces, acquainted with all
kinds of battle-array for piercing and breaking the enemy's ranks,
competent to inspire the forces of his master with cheerfulness and joy,
capable of reading signs and gestures, acquainted with all requirements
in respect of march, skilled in the art of training elephants, free from
pride, confident of his own powers, clever in the transaction of
business, always doing what is right, of righteous conduct, surrounded by
righteous friends, of sweet speech, possessed of agreeable features,
capable of leading men, well-versed in policy, possessed of
accomplishments, energetic in action, active, possessed of ingenuity, of
a sweet temper, modest in address, patient, brave, rich, and capable of
adapting his measures to the requirement of place and time. That king who
succeeds in obtaining such a minister can never be humiliated or
overpowered by any one. Indeed, his kingdom gradually spreads over the
earth like the light of the moon. A king, again, who is conversant with
the scriptures, who regards righteousness to be superior to everything,
who is always engaged in protecting his subjects, and who is possessed of
the following virtues, obtains the love of all. He should be patient,
forgiving, pure in conduct, severe when the occasion requires it
acquainted with the efficacy of exertion, respectful in his behaviour
towards all his seniors, possessed of a knowledge of the scriptures,
ready to listen to the instructions and counsels of those that are
competent to instruct and give counsel, capable of judging correctly amid
different or opposite courses of action suggested to him, intelligent, of
a retentive memory, ready to do what is just, self-restrained, always
sweet-speeched, forgiving even unto enemies, practising charity
personally, possessed of faith, of agreeable features, ready to extend
the hand of succour to persons plunged in distress, possessed of
ministers that always seek his good, free from the fault of egoism, never
without a wife, and undisposed to do anything with haste. He should
always reward his ministers when they achieve anything signal. He should
love those that are devoted to him. Avoiding idleness, he should always
attract men to himself by doing good to them. His face should always be
cheerful. He should always be attentive to the wants of his servants and
never give way to wrath. He should, besides, be magnanimous. Without
lying aside the lord of chastisement, he should wield it with propriety.
He should make all men about him act righteously. Having spies for his
eyes, he should always supervise the concerns of his subjects, and should
be conversant in all matters connected with virtue and wealth. A king
that is possessed of these hundred qualifications earns the love of all.
Every ruler should strive to be such. The king should also, O monarch,
search for good warriors (to enlist in his army) that should all be
possessed of the necessary qualifications, for aiding him in protecting
his kingdom. A king that desires his own advancement should never
disregard his army. That king whose soldiers are brave in battle,
grateful, and versed in the scriptures, whose army consists of
foot-soldiers conversant with the treatises on religion and duty, whose
elephant-warriors are fearless, whose car-warriors are skilled in their
own mode of fighting and well-versed in shooting arrows and in wielding
other weapons, succeeds in subjugating the whole earth. That king who is
always employed in attaching all men to himself, who is ready for
exertion, who is rich in friends and allies, becomes the foremost of
rulers. A king who has succeeded in attaching all men unto himself, may,
O Bharata, with the aid of even a thousand horsemen of courage, succeed
in conquering the whole earth.'"
