Yudhishthira said What should be the gratification, O grandfather, of the law-makers, the ministers of war, the countries, the commanders, and the counsellors of a king!

Bhishma said Such persons as are endued with modesty, self-control, truth, sincerity, and courage to say the proper thing, should be your law-makers.

They who are always devoted to you who are gifted with great courage, who are of the twice-bom caste, highly learned, well pleased with you, and persevering in acts, should, O son of Kunti, be sought by you for becoming your ministers of war at all seasons of distress, O Bharata!

One who is born in a high family, who treated honourably by you, always tries his best of your behalf, and who will never forsake you in happiness or misery, illness or death, should be kept by you as a courtier.

Those who are of high descent, who. are born in your kingdom, who have wisdom, beauty, great learning, and dignity of conduct, and who are, besides, devoted to you, should be employed as officers of your army.

Persons of low birth, who are covetous, cruel and shameless, would seek you, O sire, as long as they are paid.

Those who are of good-birth and good behaviour, who can interpret all sings and gestures, who are shorn of cruelty, who know the requirements of place and time, who always seek the well-being of their master in all works, should be appointed as ministers by the king in all his affairs.

Those who have been swon over with gifts of wealth, honour, respectful receptions, and means of giving happiness, and who on that account may be known by you as persons inclined to do you good in all your affairs, should always be made sharers of your happiness.

They who are unchangeable in conduct, endued with learning and good behaviour, observant of excellent vows, large-hearted, and truthful in speech, will always attend to your affairs and will never forsake you.

They, on the other hand, who disrespectable, who do not follow healthy control, who are wicked, and who have fallen away from good practices, should always be compelled by you to observe all healthy restraints.

When the question arises as to which of two sides should be adopted, you should not abandon the many for adopting the side of one. When, however, that one person excels the many by virtue of his possessing many accomplishments, then you should for that one, forsake the many.

The marks of superiority, are prowess, devotion to works that bring fame, and observance of healthy restraints. are

He, again, who honours all able persons that never cherishes feelings of rivalry with meritorious persons, who never forsakes righteousness from lust or fear or anger or covetousness, who is humble, who is truthful and forgiving, who has his mind under control, who has a sense of dignity, and who has been tried in every situation, should be appointed by you as your counsellor.

High birth, purity of blood, forgiveness, cleverness, and purify of mind, bravery gratefulness, and truthfulness are, O son of Pritha, characteristic of superiority and goodness.

A wiseman who conduct himself thus, succeeds in freeing his very enemies of their hostility and converting them into friends.

A king who has his mind under control, who is endued with wisdom, and who seeks prosperity, should carefully examine the merits and demerits of his ministers.

A king who seeks prosperity and wishes to outdo his contemporaries, should have for ministers trustworthy persons, of high descent, born in his own kingdom, incapable of being corrupted, unstained by adultery and similar vices, well proved, belonging to good families, possessed of learning, sprung from ancestors who held similar offices, and adorned with humility.

The king should appoint five such persons to superintend his affairs, who are intelligent, shorn of pride, possessed of a good disposition, energy, patience, forgiveness, purity, loyalty, firmness, and courage, whose merits and faults have been well proved, who are aged, who are capable of bearing burden and who are free from deceit.

Men who are wise in speech, who are endued which heroism, who are full of resources under difficulties, who are of high descent, who are truthful, who can read signs, who are shorn of cruelty, who know the requirements of place and time, and who seek the well-being of their masters, should be appointed by the king as his ministers in all affairs of the kingdom.

One who is shorn of energy and who has been forsaken by friends can never work with perseverance. Such a man if, appointed, fails in almost every work.

A minister possessing little learning, even if he be highly born and attentive to virtue, profit, and pleasure, cannot choose proper courses of action.

Likewise, a person of low birth, even if endued with great learning, always makes mistakes, like a blind man without a guide, in all acts requiring cleverness and foresight.

A person, again, who is of unsettled purposes, even if endued with intelligence and learning, and even if conversant with means, cannot long act with success.

A wicked man possessed of no learning may begin a work but he fails to determine what the results will be of his work.

A king should never trust a minister who is not devoted to him. He should, therefore, never give out his counsels to a minister who is not devoted to him.

Such a wicked minister, in conjunction with the other minister of the king, may ruin his lord, like fire consuming a tree by entering into it through the holes in its body with the help of the wind.

Being angry, a master may, deprive a servant of his office or reprove him, from rage, in harsh words, and restore him to power again.

None save a servant devoted to the master stand and overlook such treatment. Ministers also become sometimes highly offended with their masters. can

That one, amongst them, who subdues his anger from desire of doing good to his master,-that person who partakes in the king's happiness and misfortune, should be consulted by the king in all his affairs.

An wily person, even if he be devoted to his master and possessed of wisdom and adorned with numerous accomplishments, should never be consulted by the king.

One who is allied with enemies and who does not care for the interests of the king's subjects, should be regarded as an enemy. The king should never consult him.

One who is not learned, who is not pure, who is proud, who seeks the king's enemies, who is given to brag, who is unfriendly, wrathful, and covetous, should should not be consulted by the king.

One who is a stranger, even if he be devoted to the king and possessed of great learning, may be honoured by the king and pleased with maintenance, but the king should never consult him in his affairs.

A person whose father was unjustly exiled by royal order should not be consulted by the king, even if the king may have afterwards conferred honours upon him and given him the means of sustenance.

A well-wisher whose property was once confiscated for a slight offences, even if he be endued with all accomplishments, should not still be consulted by the king.

A person endued with wisdom, intelligence, and learning, who is born within the kingdom, who is pure and righteous in all his works, should be consulted by the king.

One who is possessed of knowledge and wisdom, who knows the nature of friends and foes, who is a friend of the king like his second self, should be consulted.

One who is truthful in speech and modest and mild, and who is a hereditary servant of the king, should be consulted.

One who is contented and honoured, who is truthful and dignified, who hates wickedness and wicked men, who is conversant with policy and the requirements of time, and who is courageous, should be consulted by the king.

One who is capable to win over all men by conciliation should be consulted, O monarch, by the king, who wishes to rule according to the dictates of the science of punishment.

One whom the inhabitants of both the capital and the provinces truth for his righteous ! conduct, who is competent to right and conversant with the rules of policy, should be consulted by the king.

Therefore, men endued with such accomplishments, men conversant with the nature of all and desirous of achieving high acts, should be honoured by the king and made his ministers. Their number also should not be less than three.

Ministers should be employed in noticing the shortcomings of their masters, of themselves, of the subject, and of the foes of their masters. The kingdom depends upon the counsels of policy which the ministers give, and its growth originates from the same source.

Ministers should act in such a way that the enemies of their master may not be able to detect his loopholes. On the other hand, when their shortcomings are seen, they should then be assailed. Like the tortoise protecting its limbs by withdrawing them within its shell, ministers should keep close their own counsels. They should, even thus, conceal their own short-comings. Those ministers of a kingdom, who succeed in keeping their counsels close, are said to be wise. Counsels are the armour of a king, and the limbs are his subjects and officers.

A kingdom depends upon spies and secret agents, and its strength lies in counsels of policy. If masters and ministers follow each other for getting support from each other, controlling pride and anger, and vanity and envy, they may then both become happy.

A king should also consult such minister as are free from the five kinds of deceit.

Ascertaining well, first of all, the different opinions of the three whom he has consulted, the king should, for subsequent settlement, go to his preceptor for informing him of those opinions and his own. His preceptor should be a Brahmana well read in all matters of virtue, profit and pleasure. Going, for such subsequent deliberation, to him, the king should, with a calm mind, ask his opinion. When a decision is got at after due deliberation with him, the king should then, without attachment, carry it out into practice.

Those who know the science of consultation hold that kings should always hold consultation in this way. Having settled plans in this way, they should then carry them into execution, for then they will be able to win over all the subjects.

There should be no dwarfs, no humpbacked persons, no lean man, no lame or blind man, no idiot, no woman, and no eunuch, at the spot where the king holds his consultations. Nothing should move there, before or behind, above or below, or in opposite directions.

Getting up on a boat, or going to an open space shorn of grass and grassy bushes and whence the surrounding land may be distinctly seen, the king should hold consultations at the proper time, avoiding shortcomings of speech and gestures.'