lowing verse was sung in days of old by Usanas of Bhrigu's race, in
the narrative called Ramacharita, on the subject, O Bharata, of kingly
duties: 'One should first select a king (in whose dominions to live).
Then should he select a wife, and then earn wealth. If there be no king,
what would become of his wife and acquisition?' Regarding those that are
desirous of kingdom, there is no other eternal duty more obligatory than
the protection (of subjects). The protection the king grants to his
subjects upholds the world.[167] Manu, the son of Prachetas, sang these
two verses respecting the duties of kings. Listen to them with attention:
'These six persons should be avoided like a leaky boat on the sea, viz.,
a preceptor that does not speak, a priest that has not studied the
scriptures, a king that does not grant protection, a wife that utters
what is disagreeable, a cow-herd that likes to rove within the village,
and a barber that is desirous of going to the woods.'"'"[168]

SECTION LVIII

"'Bhishma said, "Protection of the subject, O Yudhishthira, is the very
cheese of kingly duties. The divine Vrihaspati does not applaud any other
duty (so much as this one). The divine Kavi (Usanas) of large eyes and
austere penances, the thousand-eyed Indra, and Manu the son of Prachetas,
the divine Bharadwaja, and the saga Gaurasiras, all devoted to Brahma and
utterers of Brahma, have composed treatises on the duties of kings. All
of them praise the duty of protection, O foremost of virtuous persons, in
respect of kings. O thou of eyes like lotus leaves and of the hue of
copper, listen to the means by which protection may be secured. Those
means consist of the employment of spies and servants, giving them their
just dues without haughtiness, the realisation of taxes with
considerateness, never taking anything (from the subject) capriciously
and without cause, O Yudhishthira, the selection of honest men (for the
discharge of administrative functions), heroism, skill, and cleverness
(in the transaction of business), truth, seeking the good of the people,
producing discord and disunion among the enemy by fair or unfair means,
the repair of buildings that are old or on the point of falling away, the
infliction of corporal punishments and fines regulated by observance of
the occasion, never abandoning the honest, granting employment and
protection to persons of respectable birth, the storing of what should be
stored, companionship with