Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa ("of a hundred paths") 13.2.9.6

13.2.9.6

yakāsakau śakuntiketi viḍvai śakuntikāhalagiti vañcatīti viśo vai rāṣṭrāya vañcantyāhanti gabhe paso nigalgalīti dhāraketi viḍvai gabho rāṣṭram paso rāṣṭrameva viśyāhanti tasmādrāṣṭro viśaṃ ghātukaḥ

[The Adhvaryu addresses one of the attendant maids, Vâg. S. XXIII, 22,] 'That little bird,'--the little bird, doubtless, is the people (or clan),--'which bustles with (the sound) "ahalak,"'--for the people, indeed, bustle for (the behoof of) royal power,--'thrusts the "pasas" into the cleft, and the "dhârakâ" devours it,'--the cleft, doubtless, is the people, and the 'pasas' is royal power; and royal power, indeed, presses hard on the people; whence the wielder of royal power is apt to strike down people.