འདལ་བ་གཞ 1.8

1.8

had begun their collection again when Prince Bimbisāra spotted them on their way back and said, “Gentlemen, have I not already prohibited you from collecting tributes and taxes? Why are you collecting them again? You are to desist. Fail to desist and I shall close the borders.”

Frightened, they thought, “The prince is dangerous and ruthless. In time he may pose a serious risk to us. We must go warn the King of Aṅga.”

They went before the King of Aṅga and said, “Your Majesty, as officers of the court, we were collecting tributes and taxes on your behalf when King Mahāpadma’s son, Prince Bimbisāra, stopped us. If Your Majesty ignores the prince’s actions, he may, in time, pose a serious risk to us.”

Then they spoke in verse:

“When a tree is small,
Fingernails may fell it.
Yet when the tree is large,
Even a hundred axes may fail.”

The King of Aṅga sent a letter to King Mahāpadma: “Send Prince Bimbisāra with his sword hung from his neck—or prepare your pyre and shroud, for I myself will come!”

King Mahāpadma heard this letter read and was troubled. Head in hands, he sat and sat, absorbed in thought. Then he summoned Prince Bimbisāra and said, “Son, why did you stop the King of Aṅga’s officers from collecting tributes and taxes? They have sent me a letter expressing their anger.”

“Your Majesty, why do we pay tribute and taxes to him?”

“Son, we are tributaries.”

“If the King of Aṅga is an anointed a kṣatriya king and we too