Verse 7.10

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

कार्यं सोऽवेक्ष्य शक्तिं च देशकालौ च तत्त्वतः ।
कुरुते धर्मसिद्ध्यर्थं विश्वरूपं पुनः पुनः ॥ १० ॥

kāryaṃ so'vekṣya śaktiṃ ca deśakālau ca tattvataḥ |
kurute dharmasiddhyarthaṃ viśvarūpaṃ punaḥ punaḥ || 10 ||

For the proper fulfilment of his duty, he assumes many forms re peatedly, after having carefully considered the nature of his business, his power and the conditions of time and place.—(10)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

One should never think that the King is his relation or friend. ‘To whom is the King ever a friend, and who are friends to the King?’ (as the saying goes).

Under the exigencies of business, Kings treat a friend as their enemy, or an enemy as their friend. Similarly when they feel that they are not sufficiently strong, they condone faults; and as soon as they feel strong enough, they destroy the culprit. Similarly he acts according to the exigencies of time and place.

Thus ‘for the due fulfilment of hie duty’—i.e., for the accomplishment of his business —‘he assumes many forms’. In a moment he becomes a friend, and in a moment an enemy; the King never remains uniform.

For this reason one should never trust the King; that is, either by reason of friendship, or of kindness, or of good nature, or of sameness of age, one should not behave towards him as an equal. He should always be treated with caution.—(10)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 392); in the same work (Vyavahāra, p. 6);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 18), which adds the following notes:—‘Kāryam’ means ‘fitness for being pardoned or punished’,—‘śakti’ is ‘capacity’,—‘deśa’ means ‘remoteness or proximity’,—‘kālam’ refers to times of scarcity or opulence;—having considered all this, he assumes various forms;—i. e., in a moment he is pleased, and in a moment displeased; when he finds a man weak, he becomes forgiving and if the man is strong, he uproots him, i.e., he assumes a friendly, inimical or disinterested attitude in accordance with the considerations of state.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 7.3-13)

See Comparative notes for Verse 7.3.