who is free from malice, should ever spread evil reports about the king.  No man, by acting against the king, can ever make himself happy, even if he happens to be the king’s son or brother or companion or one whom the king regards as his second self.  Fire, having the wind for his urger, blazing forth (among articles that are inflammable), may leave a remnant.[215] The wrath of the king, however, leaves not anything to the person that incurs it.  Whatever belongs to the king should be avoided from distance.[216] One should turn away from what belongs to the king as he would from death itself.  A person by appropriating what belongs to the king speedily meets with destruction like a deer upon touching poison.  The man of intelligence should protect as his own what belongs to the kin..  They that appropriate wealth belonging to the king sink senseless into a deep hell of eternal gloom and infamy.  Who is there that will not worship the king who is adored by such terms as delighter of the people, giver of happiness, possessor of prosperity, the foremost of all, healer of injuries, lord of earth, and protector of men?  That man, therefore, who desires his own prosperity, who observes all wholesome restraints, who has his soul under control, who is the master of his passions, who is possessed of intelligence and memory, and who is clever (in the transaction of business), should always be attached to the king.  The king should duly honour the minister who is grateful, endued with wisdom, large-hearted, loyal, possessed of mastery over his senses, virtuous, and observant of the dictates of policy.  The king should entertain the man who is loyal, grateful, virtuous, possessed of self-control, brave, magnanimous in his acts, and competent to accomplish tasks without the assistance of others.  Knowledge makes men proud.  The king makes men humble.  The man who is afflicted by the king can never obtain happiness.  On the other hand, the man who is favoured by the king becomes happy.  The king is the heart of his people; he is their great refuge; he is their glory; and he is their highest happiness.  Those men, O monarch, who are attached to the king, succeed in conquering both this and the other world.  Having governed the earth with the aid of the qualities of self-restraint, truth, and friendship, and having adored the gods by great sacrifices, the king, earning great glory, obtains an eternal abode in heaven.’  That best of monarchs, viz., the heroic Vasumanas, ruler of Kosala, thus instructed by Vrihaspati the son of Angiras, began thenceforth to protect his subjects.”

SECTION LXIX

“Yudhishthira said, ’What other special duties remain for the king to discharge?  How should he protect his kingdom and how subdue his foes?  How should he employ his spies?  How should he inspire confidence in the four orders of his subjects, his own servants, wives, and sons, O Bharata?’