Verse 7.45

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

दश कामसमुत्थानि तथाऽष्टौ क्रोधजानि च ।
व्यसनानि दुर्ऽन्तानि प्रयत्नेन विवर्जयेत् ॥ ४५ ॥

daśa kāmasamutthāni tathā'ṣṭau krodhajāni ca |
vyasanāni dur'ntāni prayatnena vivarjayet || 45 ||

He shall shun the ten ruinous vices springing from love of plea sure, as also the eight arising from anger.—(45)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This verse adds a further reason for subjugating the senses.

One whose senses are not subdued cannot avoid the vices. ‘Durantāni’, ‘Ruinous’,—whose end is painful. In the beginning vices bring a certain amount of pleasure, but afterwards they lead to ruin; hence they are called ‘ruinous’.

Or the term ‘durantāni’ may mean whose end cannot be got at; i.e., people caught in a vice cannot escape from it.

Those that have their source in ‘love of pleasure’ are railed^‘Kāmasamuttha’—(45)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 148);—in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 413) as describing the ‘vices’ which are to be avoided by the king.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 7.45-53)

Kāmandaka (1.54).—‘Hunting, gambling and drinking,—these are condemned in a king. Behold the catastrophe that befell King Pāṇḍu, the king of Niṣadha and the descendants of Vṛṣṇi, through indulgence in each of these respectively. Lust, anger, avarice, fiendish delight in indicting injury, morbid desire for honour, and arrogance—these six passions should be avoided.’

Do. (1.65, 68).—‘A self-controlled king receives the highest homage. Self-control is the ornament of kings. A self-controlled king appears as beautiful as a gentle elephant shedding ichor. A powerful king without practising self-control is subdued by his enemies without difficulty; while a weak king practising self-control and observing the scriptural injunctions never meets with defeat.’

Do. (11.12).—‘Women, intoxicating drinks, hunting, gambling and diverse scourges of fate are called vyasana. One who is under the influence of these vyasanas is the person against whom expedition should be undertaken.’

Do. (14.65).—‘Beautiful women and drink may be enjoyed within the bounds of moderation; but a learned king should never indulge in hunting and gambling; for these are beset with graver dangers.’

Śukranīti (1.283).—‘Hunting, gambling and drinking are condemnable in kings. Dangers from these are illustrated in the cases of Pāṇḍu, Nala and Vṛṣṇi respectively... Sensuousness, anger, ignorance, cupidity, and passion,—one should give up these. On giving up these the king becomes happy.’

Kāmandaka (1.39).—‘A king, delighting in vile acts, and having eyes blinded by sensuous objects, brings terrible catastrophe upon his own head.’

Viṣṇu (3.50-52).—‘He should not take delight in hunting, dice, women and drinking;—nor in defamation and assault; and he should not injure his own property,’

Śukranīti (1.235).—‘Kings should not indulge in sensuousness with regard to others’ wives, cupidity towards others’ wealth, and anger towards his own subjects.’

Matsya-purāṇa (Vīramitrodaya-Rāja, p. 146).—‘Hunting, drinking and gambling, the king should avoid; kings addicted to these are ruined. Sleeping during the day and purposeless roaming should be specially avoided; he should not commit defamation or assault; the king shall also avoid talking ill of people behind their back; he shall avoid the two kinds of misuse of wealth, viz., misuse of wealth and misuse by means of wealth; the misuse of wealth consists of the demolishing of walls and the neglecting of forts, etc., and also of reckless squandering; and misuse by means of wealth consists in making presents at improper times and places and to improper persons. The king shall not he very soft; as soft people are always ill-treated; nor shall he be very hard; as people become disaffected with hard men; the king who is soft at times and also hard at times, wins both worlds. The king shall avoid joking with his dependants; dependants always ill-treat masters given to jocular conversation. The king shall avoid all vices.’

Viṣṇudharmottara (Do., p. 149).—‘The king should not enter an unknown crowd, or an unknown water, until it has been examined beforehand by trustworthy persons; nor shall he ride on a wild elephant, or on an untrained horse; he shall never visit an unknown woman, nor one in her courses. He shall never enter an ill-constructed boat, nor one of which the boats men have not been tested. He shall never disturb the endowments made in favour of gods; nor any standing endowments. He shall never confiscate the property of a Brāhmaṇa, which he shall always respect.’

Śukranīti (1.215).—‘Indulgence in gambling, women and wine, when undue, brings many disasters; within due limits, it brings wealth, sons and intelligence.’

Mārkaṇḍeya (Parāśaramādhava-Ācāra, p. 414).—‘He shall renounce all vices, specially the seven root ones. He shall protect himself against enemies, by guarding his secrets from going out. The king shall keep himself controlled by his position, prosperity, ruin, knowledge and the six qualities; and never by desires. First of all he shall know himself, then his ministers, then his dependants, and lastly all the citizens; when this has been done, then alone shall he go against his enemies.’

Arthaśāstra (p. 39).—‘By subjugating the six-fold group of enemies he shall acquire sense-control; by associating with elders, he shall acquire wisdom; through the spy, he shall obtain vision; by action, security of life and property; by controlling the activities of people, he shall secure attention to the special functions of each man: by the teaching of sciences, discipline; by the proper use of wealth, prosperity, Having acquired sense-control, he shall shun others’ women, others’ wealth and also injury to beings; also over-addiction to sleep, fickleness, untruthfulness, too showy appearance, and misuse of wealth; also all improper and illegal proceedings.’