Book 1 Chapter XIII Paragraph 5
Wikisource / R. Shamasastry (1915) · Book 1 - Concerning Discipline / Chapter XIII · Verse Paragraph 5
Sanskrit Original
"People suffering from anarchy as illustrated by the proverbial tendency of a large fish swallowing a small one (mátsyanyáyábhibhútah prajáh), first elected Manu, the Vaivasvata, to be their king; and allotted one-sixth of the grains grown and one-tenth of merchandise as sovereign dues. Fed by this payment, kings took upon themselves the responsibility of maintaining the safety and security of their subjects (yogakshemavaháh), and of being answerable for the sins of their subjects when the principle of levying just punishments and taxes has been violated. Hence hermits, too, provide the king with one- sixth of the grains gleaned by them, thinking that ‘it is a tax payable to him who protects us.’ It is the king in whom the duties of both Indra (the rewarder) and Yama (the punisher) are blended, and he is a visible dispenser of punishments and rewards (heda-prasáda); whoever disregards kings will be visited with divine punishments, too. Hence kings shall never be despised."