History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.496.2

v4.c62.496.2

A vijigīṣu is a king who is endowed with good qualities (called ātmasampat on p. 45 above) and with the several elements of the State and who is the fountain of policy (naya), i.e. who has a definite good policy to pursue. An *ari* (actual or potential enemy) is a king or kings who are the immediate neighbours on the circumference of the kingdom of the vijigīṣu. From this it follows that *ari* may comprehend one king, two kings or more who are the immediate neighbours of the vijigīṣu. But it should be remembered as insisted upon by the Nītivākyāmṛta²⁸⁹ (p. 321 that there is no inflexible rule that the immediate neighbour is an enemy and that the king whose dominion is beyond the immediate neighbour will be a friend. Contiguity or distance is not necessarily the cause of friendship or enmity, but rather it is the purpose (or object) that makes friends or enemies. All that is meant is that the immediate neighbour is most likely to be an *ari* (a real or potential enemy). A mitra (friend of the vijigīṣu) is he who is separated (from the vijigīṣu) by the intervention of the kingdom of the *ari*. A *śatru* is a neighbouring ruler possessed of the characteristics of an enemy²⁹⁰ (detailed in Kauṭ. VI. 1). The *yātavya* (to be attacked or invaded by the vijigīṣu) is an *ari* who is involved in difficulties.