Verse 7.161

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

आसनं चैव यानं च सन्धिं विग्रहमेव च ।
कार्यं वीक्ष्य प्रयुञ्जीत द्वैधं संश्रयमेव च ॥ १६१ ॥

āsanaṃ caiva yānaṃ ca sandhiṃ vigrahameva ca |
kāryaṃ vīkṣya prayuñjīta dvaidhaṃ saṃśrayameva ca || 161 ||

He shall have recourse to Halting, to Marching, to Alliance, to War, to Bifurcation or to Seeking shelter, after having fully considered his business.—(161)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Having entered into alliance with one party, he shall declare war upon another, even under false pretences. Similarly he shall resort to Halting after having entered into alliance and declared war. All this he shall do after having fully considered his business. There can be no fixed time for all this; he shall resort to a certain measure at the time at which he may think it to be most opportune.

Objection—“If any rules regarding time cannot be indicated, why should there be any teaching regarding the subject at all?”

Answer—Who says that the time cannot be indicated? What is meant is that any minute details regarding the time are hard to indicate; a general indication is easy enough; and even a general indication comes useful to those who are not learned.—(161)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 411),—and in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 324), which explains ‘Saṃśraya’ as ‘seeking the shelter of a more powerful king, when hard-pressed by the enemy.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 7.160-161)

See Comparative notes for Verse 7.160.