Agnipurana 237

English (machine translation) 237

Language: English

237.6 — 2 parts
237.16 — 3 parts
237.23 — 3 parts

237.1

Agni said: / The polity spoken by Puṣkara to you, which was spoken by Rāma to Lakṣmaṇa / for victory, that I shall declare; listen to it which increases righteousness and the rest.

237.2

Rāma said: / One should carry out the acquisition of wealth by just means, its increase, and its protection, / and its bestowal upon worthy recipients: fourfold is the conduct of a king.

237.3

Discipline is the root of policy; discipline arises from the certainty of the treatises; / discipline is indeed the conquest of the senses; endowed with these, he should protect the earth.

237.4

Knowledge of the treatises, intellect, firmness, skill, bold confidence, retentiveness, / energy, eloquence, generosity, endurance in times of misfortune,

237.5

Majesty, purity, friendliness, liberality, truth, gratitude, / noble birth, good character, and equanimity: these are the qualities that cause prosperity.

237.6

Running wild in the forest of scattered sense-objects, destructive,

237.6.p2

1 'vāgmatā dārḍhyam āpatkālasahiṣṇutā' in kha, gha, ja, and jha. / [Page 359]

237.6_2

one should make the elephant of the senses submissive with the goad of knowledge.

237.7

Desire, anger, greed, elation, pride, and arrogance: / he should cast off this group of six; when this is abandoned, the king is happy.

237.8

Endowed with discipline, a king should deliberate on philosophy, the three Vedas, commerce, and statecraft, / in the company of those versed in them and engaged in their practice.

From philosophy comes knowledge of the true nature of things; righteousness and unrighteousness reside in the three Vedas; / profit and loss in commerce; and right policy and wrong policy in statecraft.

237.10

Non-violence, gentle speech, truth, ritual purity, compassion, and forbearance: / this is declared to be the common duty of members of the social orders and religious stages.

237.11

He should favor his subjects and establish proper conduct: / gentle speech, compassion, gift-giving, and protection of the humble who have sought shelter.

237.12

Such is the conduct of the virtuous, beneficial to good men, the vow of true men. / For a body beset by mental anguish and physical disease, perishing today or tomorrow,

237.13

what king would commit what departs from righteousness? / Seeking his own happiness, he should never oppress wretched people.

237.14

For a wretched man, when oppressed, destroys the king with his grief. / Just as folded hands of reverence are made to one's own venerable kinsman,

237.15

so an even greater courtesy should be shown to a wicked person by one who desires well-being. / One should always speak only pleasing words to the good and to enemies alike.

237.16

Those who speak pleasing words are gods; those who speak harshly are beasts. / Pure, with a mind sanctified by faith, he should always worship the deities.

237.16.p1

[Note]

237.16.p2

1 "Protecting the miserable and helpless" in kha, gha, cha, ja, ña, and ṭa.

237.16.p3

2 "Desiring one's own face [i.e., welfare]" in kha and cha. / [Page 360]

237.17

[Treating] elders like gods and friends like oneself, / [one should win over] an elder by prostration, [and] the virtuous by sincere deeds.

237.18

Through servants one should propitiate the gods, [and] through meritorious action; / one should win a friend by genuine goodwill, and relatives by showing deference.

237.19

Women and servants [should be won] with love and gifts, other people with courtesy; / non-criticism of the actions of others, adherence to one's own duty,

237.20

compassion toward the wretched, sweet words on every occasion, / helping an unfailing friend even at the cost of one's life,

237.21

an embrace for one who comes to the house, giving according to one's means, forbearance, / absence of arrogance in one's own prosperity, absence of envy at the advancement of others,

237.22

speech that does not afflict others, observing the vow of silence, / enduring connection with relatives, upright conduct toward one's own folk,

237.23

and doing what is proper: such is the conduct of noble souls. // 23

237.23.p1

Thus in the great Purāṇa of Agni, the two hundred and thirty-seventh chapter, entitled "Statecraft Taught by Rāma."

237.23.p3

Now, the two hundred and thirty-eighth chapter.

237.23.p4

The Duties of a King.

Other recensions (1)

Agnipurāṇa (Nag Publishers edition, Delhi) — Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit