Verse 9.295

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

सप्तानां प्रकृतीनां तु राज्यस्यासां यथाक्रमम् ।
पूर्वं पूर्वं गुरुतरं जानीयाद् व्यसनं महत् ॥ २९५ ॥

saptānāṃ prakṛtīnāṃ tu rājyasyāsāṃ yathākramam |
pūrvaṃ pūrvaṃ gurutaraṃ jānīyād vyasanaṃ mahat || 295 ||

Among these seven constituents of the kingdom stated in due order, injury to each preceding one is to be regarded as more serious.—(295)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

That is to say, any harm coming to the King’s own army is more serious than that of the Ally. If he is himself fully fit, the King can go to the rescue of his Ally.

Similarly as between the Treasury and the Army,—injury to the Treasury means positive injury to the Army.

And between ‘Treasury’ and the ‘People,’—if the People are injured, whence would the ‘Treasury’ derive its existence? Similarly when the whole People are in danger, all effort should be concentrated on the saving of the ‘Capital City,’ as it is there that all the accessories of the kingdom can he brought together. The ‘Minister’ again is more important than the ‘Capital City;’ as the destruction of the Chief Minister may bring destruction to the entire kingdom.—(295)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 278), which explains ‘vyasanam’ as ‘vyasanakāraṇam’, ‘source of trouble’—and adds that these are so only when they defective.—It is quoted again on p. 319, where the same notes are repeated and ‘prakṛtīnām’ is explained as ‘among the factors’.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 9.294-297)

See Comparative notes for Verse 9.294.