Verse 7.190

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

गुल्मांश्च स्थापयेदाप्तान् कृतसञ्ज्ञान् समन्ततः ।
स्थाने युद्धे च कुशलानभीरूनविकारिणः ॥ १९० ॥

gulmāṃśca sthāpayedāptān kṛtasañjñān samantataḥ |
sthāne yuddhe ca kuśalānabhīrūnavikāriṇaḥ || 190 ||

On all sides he shall station reliable pickets, with whom signals have been arranged, who are experts in standing firm as also in charging, fearless and loyal.—(190)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Pickets’—troops of men; some of them supplied with conches and drums, while others are not so supplied. These shall be stationed at those points where if any mishap were to occur, it would lead to grave peril.

The qualifications of these men are now stated—

(a) ‘Reliable’; ‘āpta’ is a relative, and ‘reliable servants’ are as good as relatives.

(b) ‘With whom signals have been arranged.’—with whom signs for communication have been fixed upon; such as—‘when the battle has begun, when you hear the sound of conches, trumpets, drums and other instruments, in such and such a way, then you shall understand that there are signs of wavering and retreat, and then you shall do such and such an act’,—or ‘when the flag is taken down, or hoisted up, you shall stand apart from one another; if it is hoisted in this way you shall charge in a mass; you shall turn back, when it is raised in such and such fashion’.

(c) ‘Experts in standing firm’,—who are determined to stand together in proper formation even when charged by the canons of the enemy attacking them in dense masses; ‘as also in charging’—i.e., while not quite expert in pursuing the fleeing enemy, they are adepts in charging en masse into the thickest of the enemy and engaging in fierce combat his rear-guard and taking captives hundreds of those trying to run away.

(d) ‘Fearless’—hence prone to spreading themselves and yet operating in combination.

(e) ‘Loyal’—identifying themselves entirely with the interests of their chief.

In this fashion he shall establish several pickets ‘on all sides’—i.e. on three sides—extending to two miles each way; bat the position of these shall be altered everyday. When the fears of the chief are allayed by the alertness of these, his people gain confidence in him. And the king shall address the following words to his men—‘In as much as, at the end of the war, presents, honours and appreciations shall be distributed among all, it is the interest of all of you, along with the ministers, that it be waged in the proper manner,—I am king only in name—in reality all of us are equal sharers in all prosperity that may come to us,—if we win, we acquire a kingdom, and if we lose we attain heaven,—it is with this view that all of us have come together’.—(190)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 402);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti) p. 401).