Yudhishthira said O foremost of kings, what is that method by which a king governing his subjects may, thereby, acquire great blessedness and eternal fame?

Bhishma said A king of pure soul and devoted to the duty of protecting his subjects acquires merit and fame, both here and hereafter, by acting righteously.

Yudhishthira said What should attitude of the king with regard to the treatment of others. Asked by me, O you of great wisdom, you should tell me everything duly!

The virtues of men, which you have described, cannot be found to exist in any single individual. Bhishma said-

You are highly intelligent, O Yudhishthira! It is what you say. The person is very rare who is endued with all those good qualities.

In short, such a one, [who is possessed of all those virtues) is very difficult to be seen even upon careful search. I shall, however, tell you what kinds of ministers should be appointed by you.

Four Brahmanas, learned in the Vedas, endued with a sense of dignity, belonging to the Sanataka order, and of pure conduct, and eight Kshatriyas, all of whom should have physical strength and be capable of wielding weapons, and one and twenty Vaishyas, all of whom should be rich, and three Shudras, every one of whom should be humble and of pure conduct and devoted to his daily duties, and one man of the Suta caste, possessing of the knowledge of the Puranas and the eight principal virtues, should be your ministers. Every one of them should be fifty years old endued with sense of dignity, free from envy, masters of the Shrutis and the Smritis humble, impartial, capable of deciding then and there in the midst of disputants pointing out various courses of action, free from covetousness, and from the seven terrible vices called Vyasanas. The king should consult with those eight ministers and lead them.

He should then announce in his kingdom, for the information of his subjects, the results of such consultations. You should always, following such a conduct, watch over your people.

You should never confiscate what is deposited with you or appropriate the thing whose ownership is disputed by two persons. Such a conduct would spoil the administration of justice. If the administration of justice be thus spoiled will assail you, and afflict your kingdom as well and strike your people with fear as little birds on seeing the hawk. Your kingdom will then vanish like a boat wrecked on the sea.

If a king governs his subjects unfairly, fear takes possession of his heart and the door of heaven is shut against him.

A kingdom, O foremost of men, depends upon righteousness. That minister, or king's son, who acts unfairly, holding the seat of justice, and those officers who, having accepted responsible offices, act unjustly, actuated by self-interest, all sink in hell along with the king himself.

Helpless inen, who are oppressed by the strong and who consequently bewail piteously, have the king for their protector.

In cases of dispute between two parties, the decision should depend upon the evidence of witness. If one of the parties has no witness and is helpless, the king should give the case his best consideration.

The king should punish the offenders according to their offences. The wealthy should be punished with fines and confiscations; the poor, with loss of liberty.

The wicked should be punished by the king with corporal punishments. The king should maintain all good men with sweet speeches and presents of riches.

He who tries to bring about the death of the king should be punished with death to be effected by various means. One who becomes guilty of arson or theft or such co-habitation with women as may lead to an intermixture of castes, should be punished with death.

A king, O monarch, who inflicts punishments duly and according to the dictates of the science of punishment, commits no sin by the act. On the other hand, he acquires eternal merit.

That foolish king who inflicts punishments whimsically, earns infamy here and sinks into hell hereafter.

One should not be punished for the fault of another. Bestowing sufficient thought upon the code, a person should be convicted or acquitted.

A king should never kill a messenger under any circumstances. That king who kills a messenger sinks into hell with all his ministers.

That king, mindful of Kshatriya practices, who kills a messenger faithfully speaking out his message, causes his departed manes to be stained with the sin of killing a foetus.

A messenger should have these seven accomplishments, viz., he should be of high descent, of a good family, eloquent, clever, sweet-speeched, faithful in delivering the message with which he is sent, and possessed of good memory.

The aid-de-camp of the king, who guards his persons, should also possess similar qualities. The officer also that guards his capital or citadel should possess the same qualities.

The king's minister should be well-read in the scriptures and capable in directing wars and making treaties. He should also be intelligent, courageous, modest, and capable of keeping secrets.

He should also be of high birth, have strength of mind, and be pure in conduct. If endued with these qualities, he should be regarded worthy. The commander of the king's forces should have also the same qualities.

He should also be master of the various sorts of battle array and with the uses of engines and weapons. He should be able to bear exposure to rain, cold, heat, and wind, and watchful of the shortcomings of foes.

The king, O monarch, should, be able to make his enemies sleep under a sense of security. He should not, however, himself trust any one. The reposing of confidence on even his own son is not good.

I have now, O sinless one, described to you what are the injunctions of the scriptures. Not to trust any one has been regarded one of the greatest mysteries of king-craft?