to settle what acts should be done by thee in the day.  Mid-nights and mid-days should be devoted to thy amusements and sports.  At all times, however thou shouldst think of the means for accomplishing thy purposes.  At the proper time, adorning thy person, thou shouldst sit prepared to make gifts in profusion.  The turns for different acts, O son, ceaselessly revolve like wheels.  Thou shouldst always exert thyself to fill thy treasuries of various kinds by lawful means.  Thou shouldst avoid all unlawful means towards that end.  Ascertaining through thy spies who thy foes are that are bent on finding out thy laches, thou shouldst, through trusted agents, cause them to be destroyed from a distance.  Examining their conduct, thou shouldst O perpetuator of Kuru’s race, appoint thy servants.  Thou shouldst cause all thy acts to be accomplished through thy servitors:  whether they are appointed for those acts or not.  The commandant of thy forces should be of firm conduct, courageous, capable of bearing hardships, loyal, and devoted to thy good.  Artisans and mechanics, O son of Pandu, dwelling in thy provinces, should always do thy acts like kine and asses.[11] Thou shouldst always, O Yudhishthira, be careful to ascertain thy own laches as also those of thy foes.  The laches also of thy own men as also of the men of thy foes should equally be ascertained.  Those men of thy kingdom, that are well skilled in their respective vocations, and are devoted to thy good, should be favoured by thee with adequate means of support.  A wise king, O ruler of men, should always see that the accomplishments of his accomplished subjects might be kept up.  They would then be firmly devoted to thee, seeing that they did not fall away from their skill.’”

SECTION VI

“Dhritarashtra said, Thou shouldst always ascertain the Mandalas that belong to thee, to thy foes, to neutrals, and to those that are disposed equally towards thee and thy foes, O Bharata.[12] The Mandalas also of the four kinds of foes, of these called Atatayins, and of allies, and the allies of foes, should be distinguished by thee, O crusher of foes.[13] The ministers of state, the people of the provinces, the garrisons of forts, and the forces, O foremost one of Kuru’s race, may or may not be tampered with. (Thou shouldst, therefore, behave in such a manner that these may not be tampered with by thy foes).  The twelve (enumerated above), O son of Kunti, constitute the principal concerns of kings.  These twelve, as also sixty, having Ministers for their foremost, should be looked after by the king.[14] Professors conversant with the science of politics call these by the name of Mandala.  Understand, O Yudhishthira, that the six incidents (of peace, war, march, halt, sowing dissensions, and conciliation) depend upon these.  Growth and diminution should also be understood, as also the condition of being stationary.  The attributes of the sixfold incidents,