Matsyapurana 148.69

148.69

eko 'bhyupāyo daṇḍo 'tra bhavatāṃ yadi rocate
durjaneṣu kṛtaṃ sāma mahadyāti ca vandhyatām //

Hearing those words of Indra the wise Bṛihaspati, the master of speech, replied — "Lord of the Devas! those who want to conquer the enemy having four fold armies as chariots, horses, elephants and infantry should resort to either of the four policies beginning with Sāma (peace overtures) This is the eternal procedure Peace, dissension, gift, and war are the four policies in the Nīti Śāstra (war politics) These four means are to be applied after due consideration of the time, place, and the strength of the enemy Friendship and peace cannot be made with the Daityas for they are well established You cannot sow dissension amongst them, for they are one intact body You cannot give them gifts for they are endowed with wealth So the last resource, i e , war is inevitable If you, therefore, agree, to crush them would be the best thing, because one who makes overtures for peace with the wicked, works in vain When magnanimous men out of their liberal understanding and kind disposition makes overtures for peace the wicked think that they do it out of fear The good do not misunderstand and come round when persuaded to make peace but the case of the wicked is otherwise The wicked always take it for granted that proposals of peace originate from fear, it is therefore best to fight with them and subdue them, then you can apply other means Persuation for peace is best in connection with the good, the wicked can never turn out good The good may persuade themselves to change their natures on certain occasions but the wicked never do so This is my advice, but you should also consider over the matter' Indra after a long pause, thus addressed the Devas—64 74