Hindu Administrative Institutions c6.52

c6.52

Here nīti is compared to a tree on the bank of a river. Just as a tree near the waters is unstable and may fall at any time, so also is nīti. It must not therefore be abandoned but kept well-cared for. Here Dr. F. W. Thomas who has edited and translated this work, keeps the original reading तन्नेहितव्यम् and translates it ‘it must not be desired’. A treatise on moral and political philosophy cannot speak of the non-desirability of nīti. Evidently the reading in the text is wrong. In the context the reading तन्नोहातव्यं suggested above seems better. For, it seems to be the idea of Bṛhaspati that that king who abandons the science of daṇḍa nīti is sure to land himself in misery as a moth burns itself in a flame through sheer ignorance.¹ The result of nīti is attainment of dharma, artha and kāma.² Bṛhaspati says that daṇḍa nīti is peculiar to the country of the Bharatas and must therefore be studied by every one of the four divisions of the Hindu community.³ It is owing to this science alone that the Sun-God is the king, and Vāyu and other gods, creatures (vs. 76-78). This daṇḍa nīti is said to be largely read by men of wisdom in the Kṛta Yuga, by the followers of karma in the Tretāyuga, by the followers of tantra in the Dvāpara, and by ordinary men in the first quarter of tishya or Kali Yuga. After this period people become victims to unrighteousness and no more follow the precepts of daṇḍa.⁴