Hindu Administrative Institutions c9.s1.21

c9.s1.21

This is borne out by a whole chapter of the *Śānti Parvan* of the *Mahābhārata*. To Manu, the first king, people agreed to give as wages of protection, one cow for every fifty cows bought or sold, one-fiftieth of gold, one-tenth of grains, besides other favourable terms.² Bhīṣma on the authority of Bṛhaspati and others characterizes this idea as very important and equalizes protection with the *rājadharma* itself.³ The means towards the end of protection are then narrated; policemen and servants, gifts intime and place, reasonable demands, valour, skill and truth on the part of the king, dissension among the enemies, proper justice, protecting the good, collecting the grains, serving the learned, increasing the treasury, enthusiasm among the soldiers, good means of defence, diplomacy, self-confidence, in a word, pursuit of *nīti* and *dharma*.¹