Chapter 41 - The royal entourage (rājāṅga)

1. All the different sections of the entourage of all the kings [viz., rājāṅga] will be described now.

2-4. A king should study the four Vedas together with their six branches (aṅgas, namely, śikṣā, Kalpa, Vyākaraṇa, Nirukta, Chandas, and Jyotiṣa) in order; he should be proficient in all sciences beginning with the military science, including archery and politics (mantra), etc.; he should equally (know) the six systems of philosophy; and he should undertake (new ventures) after (due) initiation.

5. He should be brave and resolute (dhīroddhata), moderately sportive (dhīralalita), and majestic, proud and generous (dhīrodātta).

6. He should personally know (the strength of) his kingdom, comprising resources and allies, etc., and personally conduct the business of government.

7. He should be a warrior himself, highly experienced, rich in resources, conversant with laws, and very strong in morals.

8-9. These are said to be the special and common qualifications of all the kings; these jewel-like (precious) qualifications are indispensable for all (classes of) kings.

10-12. He is known as the Astragrāha king who has an army consisting of five hundred horses, five (hundred) elephants, and fifty-thousand foot soldiers (lit., retinue), of whom he should be the chief commander himself, and five hundred beautiful court ladies, and one queen.

13-15. That (class of kings) is known as the Prāhāraka who overlords the enemy with forts containing an army six hundred strong in (horses and) elephants and a standing force of a hundred thousand foot soldiers (lit., retinue) of whom he should be the chief commander himself, and possesses seven hundred beautiful court ladies, and two queens.

16-18. The Paṭṭabhāj (class of kings) is known to possess eight hundred horses of good breed, seven (hundred) elephants, an army of one hundred and fifty thousand foot soldiers (lit., retinue), one thousand beautiful court ladies, and three queens.

19-21. The Maṇḍaleśa (class of kings) possesses one thousand horses, ten (hundred) elephants, an army of two hundred thousand foot soldiers, a thousand and five hundred beautiful court ladies, and four queens.

22-24. The Paṭṭadhara (class of kings) is known to possess one thousand and five hundred horses, twelve (hundred) elephants, an army of two hundred thousand foot soldiers, two thousand beautiful court ladies, and five principal queens.

25-27. The (class of) king called the Pārṣṇika possesses two thousand horses, fifteen (hundred) elephants, an army of four hundred thousand foot soldiers, three thousand beautiful court ladies, and six queens.

28-29. The Pārṣṇika, Paṭṭadhara, Maṇḍaleśa, and Paṭṭabhāj: these (classes of kings) should get the commanders-in-chief of their respective army from nine islands (?foreign countries).

30-32. The Narendra (class of kings) is said to possess over ten thousand horses, many thousand elephants, an army of one hundred lakh (100,00,000) foot soldiers, fifty thousand court ladies, and ten queens; for the Narendra (class of kings) also (the chief army-commander) should be secured from a foreign country (lit., island).

33-36. The king named Adhirāja should possess one crore (koṭi, 100,00,000) horses, ten thousand elephants, an army of ten crores (koṭi, 10.00.00.000) foot soldiers, ten lakh (10,00,000) maraṇyā (women ready to die with the king), and one thousand queens; and the commander-in-chief should be (secured) as stated before (i.e., from a foreign country).

37-43. And lastly one who is the lord like Indra (the king of gods) in regard to (the number of) his chief consort; whose lotus-like feet are saluted by the brother (subordinate) kings; whose elephants, horses, foot soldiers, court ladies, and courtesans (respectively) number one arbuda (1,00,000,000), one nyarbuda (10,00,000,000), one mahāśaṅkha (10,00,000,000,000), one padma (10,000,000,000,000), and [ending at the court girls numbering] one parārdha (10,000,000,000,000,000,000)^[1], whose commanders-in-chief are stated (to be appointed as before): who rules without any rival over the whole earth girdled by the seven oceans; therefore he is known as the Cakravartin (universal monarch) because of his possession of the whole empire.

44-45. They should, according to rule, study the four Vedas together with the six systems of philosophy; they must be specially conversant with the science of peace (sāmaśāstra) and all other sciences, and be self-possessed, and religious.

46-47. They should be brave and generous, very charitable, prosperous, wealthy, and majestic; they must know the polity (nīti), be the protector of the people, and have ready (lit., unearned) money for (improving) the public places, etc.

48-49. They should personally know everything, (specially) protect the Brahmans, should kiss like a bee the lotus-like feet of the preceptor, and be happy; they should possess peace of mind, thirst for glory, taste for aesthetics, and be masters of the science of music (gandharvaśāstra).

50-51. All (classes of) the kings should possess all these qualities (expedients) beginning from pacific measures{GL_NOTE::} as stated by the wise; all those aforesaid qualities should be possessed by all the kings including even the inferior ones.

Thus in the Mānasāra, the science of architecture, the forty-first chapter, entitled: “The description of the royal entourage.”

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The units are ordinarily divided into twenty, namely, eka, daśa, śata, sahasra, ayuta, lakṣa or niyuta, prayuta, koṭi, arbuda, bṛnda or ayarbuda, kharva, nikharva, śaṅkha, padma, para, samudra, madhya, antara, apara, and parārdha.

The various authorities slightly differ in these technical names. For further details see the writer’s Dictionary, page 10, and also his article, Hindu system of measurement, in the Allahabad University Studies, vol. II, pp 13-77.

[2]:

The four expedients are known (Manu, VII. 107, 109), as sāmin (conciliation), dāna (bribery), bheda (dissension), and daṇḍa (punishment by open attack). Some authorities add three more, namely, māyā (deceit), upekṣā (trick or neglect), and indrajāla (conjuring).