Kautilya's Arthashastra 7.1.36

7.1.36

yadi vā manyeta "nāsmi śaktaḥ parakarmāṇy upahantum, svakarmopaghātaṃ vā trātum" iti, balavantam āśritaḥ svakarmānuṣṭhānena kṣayāt sthānaṃ sthānād vṛddhiṃ cākāṅkṣeta //

Or if a king thinks:--

"That I am strong enough neither to harass my enemy’s works nor to defend my own against my enemy's attack," then he shall seek protection from a king of superior power and endeavour to pass from the stage of deterioration to that of stagnancy and from the latter to that of progress.