Agnipurana 239

English (machine translation) 239

Language: English

239.1 — 3 parts
239.12 — 3 parts
239.22 — 4 parts
239.32 — 6 parts

239.1

Rāma said: / The king should consider the primary circle [of states] consisting of twelve kings: / the enemy, the friend, the enemy's friend, the friend's friend, and next,

239.1.p2

1 kha, cha, and ña read 'rājyaṃ rāṣṭrañceti'.

239.2

likewise the enemy's friend's friend—these are declared to be in front of the ambitious conqueror. / In the rear is declared the rearward enemy, and following him, the rearward ally.

Likewise are the allies of these two in the rear; such is the circle of the ambitious conqueror. / Situated adjacent to the territories of both the enemy and the ambitious conqueror is the intermediate ruler.

239.4

He is capable of assisting them when united, and subduing them when divided. / Outside the circle of these is the neutral ruler, superior in strength.

239.5

O wise one, he is capable of assisting them when united, and of subduing them when divided. / I shall tell you of alliance, war, marching, halting, and the rest.

239.6

When attacked by a stronger foe, he should make peace for his own welfare. / Kapāla, upahāra, santāna, saṅgata,

239.7

upanyāsa, pratīkāra, saṃyoga, puruṣāntara, / adṛṣṭanara, ādiṣṭa, ātmāmiṣa, upagraha,

239.8

parikrama, chinna, paradūṣaṇa, / and skandhopaneya—these sixteen alliances are spoken of.

239.9

Mutual assistance, friendly, alliance through marriage, / and upahāra—these four are the principal among alliances.

239.10

A child, an old man, a chronically ill person, an outcast from his kin, / a coward, one whose followers are cowards, a greedy person, one whose followers are greedy,

239.11

one whose subjects are disaffected, one overly attached to sensual pleasures, / one whose counsel wavers among many minds, a reviler of the gods and brāhmaṇas,

239.12

one stricken by fate, a reviler of fate, / one beset by the distress of famine, one overcome by distress in his army,

239.12.p1

[Apparatus]

239.12.p2

1 kha and cha read 'puraḥsthitāḥ'.

239.12.p3

2 ga reads 'maitraḥ sukhakarastathā'.

239.13

one stationed in his own territory who has many enemies, one abandoned by time, / and one devoid of truth and righteousness—these twenty persons,

239.14

one should not make peace with these; rather, he should only wage war against them. / Hostility arises among men from mutual injury.

239.15

Desiring his own prosperity, or when oppressed by another, / endowed with the advantage of place, time, and strength, one should undertake war in this world.

239.16

Deprivation of kingdom, women, settlements, territory, / knowledge, or strength; arrogance; pride; injury caused by sensual pursuits;

239.17

impediment to knowledge, personal power, or virtue; fate alone; / an ally's affair; insult; destruction of kin;

239.18

alienation of loyal subjects; corrupting the circle [of kings]; / and competing desire for a single object—these are the sources of war.

239.19

Arising from rivalry, arising from land, arising from women, arising from words, and arising from an offense— / enmity is declared to be of five kinds; he should bring it to pacification by proper means.

239.20

[A war that brings] meager fruit, or no fruit, or doubtful fruit, / causing harm in the present and bearing no fruit in the future,

239.21

or producing harm both in the future and in the present, / or incited by an enemy whose strength is unknown,

239.22

[or fought] for another's sake, or caused by a woman, or of long duration, or with brāhmaṇas, / or with one aided by ill-timed fate, or with one whose ally is haughty with power—

239.22.p1

[Apparatus]

239.22.p2

1 The passage beginning with 'ātmano' and ending with 'vigraham' is missing in manuscript ga.

239.22.p3

2 gha reads 'avahāraḥ'.

239.22.p4

3 ña reads 'jñānārthaśaktidharmāṇām'.

239.23

[A war] that bears fruit in the present but is devoid of fruit in the future,
likewise one that bears fruit in the future but is fruitless in the present,

239.24

a king should never wage such a sixteenfold war.
A king should always undertake an action that is sound both in the present and in the future.

239.25

Considering his own army pleased and well-nourished, and that of the enemy to be the opposite,
when his ally, rear ally, and supporting ally are firmly devoted,

239.26

and those of the enemy are the opposite, then he should wage war.
Marching after having declared war, after making peace, together [with an ally], or through a contingent cause,

239.27

and through indifference—marching is considered fivefold by the skilled.
Halting is taught [to arise] from the neutralization of each other's strength.

239.28

Like marching, it is taught to be fivefold for both the enemy and the one desirous of conquest.
Between two powerful enemies, offering oneself through words,

239.29

one should remain in a state of double-dealing, unnoticed like a crow's eye.
When both encounter each other, he should serve the more powerful.

239.30

When both, having formed a secret pact, do not desire union [with him],
then he should approach their enemy or go over to a stronger one himself.

239.31

Being uprooted by a powerful [foe], devoid of any means of counteraction,
he should resort to one of noble family, truthful, noble, and preeminent in strength.

239.32

Constantly seeking his sight, serving him, always meditating on devotion to him,
and displaying humility produced by him—such is the conduct heard of one seeking refuge.