from trustfulness or love? Do the people that
inhabit thy realm, bought by thy foes, ever seek to
raise disputes with thee, uniting themselves with
one another? Are those amongst thy foes that are
feeble always repressed by the help of troops that
are strong, by the help of both counsels and troops?
Are all the principal chieftains (of thy empire) all
devoted to thee? Are they ready to lay down their
lives for thy sake, commanded by thee? Dost thou
worship Brahmanas and wise men according to their
merits in respect of various branches of learning?
I tell thee, such worship is without doubt, highly
beneficial to thee. Hast thou faith in the religion
based on the three Vedas and practised by men who
have gone before thee? Dost thou carefully follow
the practices that were followed by them? Are
accomplished Brahmanas entertained in thy house and
in thy presence with nutritive and excellent food,
and do they also obtain pecuniary gifts at the conclusion
of those feasts? Dost thou, with passions under
complete control and with singleness of mind, strive
to perform the sacrifices called Vajapeya and Pundarika
with their full complement of rites? Bowest thou
unto thy relatives and superiors, the aged, the gods,
the ascetics, the Brahmanas, and the tall trees (banian)
in villages, that are of so much benefit to people?
O sinless one, causest thou ever grief or anger in
any one? Do priests capable of granting thee
auspicious fruits ever stand by thy side? O sinless
one, are thy inclinations and practices such as I
have described them, and as always enhance the duration
of life and spread one’s renown and as always
help the cause of religion, pleasure, and profit?
He who conducteth himself according to this way, never
findeth his kingdom distressed or afflicted; and that
monarch, subjugating the whole earth, enjoyeth a high
degree of felicity. O monarch, I hope, no well-behaved,
pure-souled, and respected person is ever ruined and
his life taken, on a false charge or theft, by thy
ministers ignorant of Sastras and acting from greed?
And, O bull among men, I hope thy ministers never
from covetousness set free a real thief, knowing him
to be such and having apprehended him with the booty
about him? O Bharata, I hope, thy ministers are
never won over by bribes, nor do they wrongly decide
the disputes that arise between the rich and the poor.
Dost thou keep thyself free from the fourteen vices
of kings, viz., atheism, untruthfulness, anger,
incautiousness, procrastination, non-visit to the
wise, idleness, restlessness of mind, taking counsels
with only one man, consultation with persons unacquainted
with the science of profit, abandonment of a settled
plan, divulgence of counsels, non-accomplishment of
beneficial projects, and undertaking everything without
reflection? By these, O king, even monarchs firmly
seated on their thrones are ruined. Hath thy study
of the Vedas, thy wealth and knowledge of the Sastras
and marriage been fruitful?