A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c8.s3.78.3

c8.s3.78.3

The man who even thinks of harming the king doubtless suffers pain here on earth, and goes to hell hereafter. The king must not be despised from an idea that he is a mere mortal, for he is a great deity in human form. He constantly assumes five forms, namely those of Fire, the Sun, Death, Kubera and Yama ; he is Fire, when he burns the wicked with his majestic lustre ; the Sun, when he oversees all beings by means of spies ; Death, when he slays the impure persons by the hundred; Yama, when he applies severe punishment to the impious and fosters the pious ; and Kubera, when he bestows wealth upon his friends and snatches it away from his enemies. The skilful man who desires to practise virtue and is persevering in his undertakings and who does not scorn the highest world, should not revile the king. He who acts against the king, be he his son, brother, favourite or like his own self, does not attain happiness. One should shun all the king's wealth from a distance, and he should abhor theft of the king's property as he abhors death. If he were to touch the king's property, he would instantly perish like deer touching a trap. The intelligent man should guard the king's property as he guards his own.