ts) cause those Brahmanas to utter
benedictions on thee for the success of thy purposes. Endued with
sincerity, and wisdom and intelligence, O Bharata, thou shouldst adopt
truth and avoid lust and wrath. That foolish king who pursues Profit
without driving away lust and wrath, fails to acquire virtue and
ultimately sacrifices Profit as well. Never employ those that are
covetous and foolish in matters connected with Pleasure and Profit. Thou
shouldst always employ in all thy acts those that are free from
covetousness and possessed of intelligence. Stained with lust and wrath
and unskilled in the transaction of business foolish persons, if vested
with authority in matters of Profit, always oppress the people by diverse
contrivances productive of mischief. With a sixth part upon fair
calculation, of the yield of the soil as his tribute, with fines and
forfeitures levied upon offenders, with the imposts, according to the
scriptures, upon merchants and traders in return for the protection
granted to them, a king should fill his treasury.[226] Realising this
just tribute and governing the kingdom properly the king should, with
heedfulness, act in such a way that his subjects may not feel the
pressure of want. Men become deeply devoted to that king who discharges
the duty of protection properly, who is endued with liberality, who is
steady in the observance of righteousness, who is vigilant, and who is
free from lust and hate. Never desire to fill thy treasury by acting
unrighteously or from covetousness. That king who does not act in
accordance with the scriptures fails to earn wealth and religious merit.
That king who is mindful only of the means of acquiring wealth, never
succeeds in acquiring both religious merit and wealth. The wealth again
that he acquires (by such means) is seen to be lavished on unworthy
objects.[227] That avaricious king who through folly oppresses his
subjects by levying taxes not sanctioned by the scriptures, is said to
wrong his own self. As a person desirous of milk never obtains any by
cutting off the udders of a cow, similarly a kingdom afflicted by
improper means, never yields any profit to the king.[228] He who treats a
milch cow with tenderness always obtains milk from it. Similarly, the
king who rules his kingdom by the aid of proper means, reaps much fruit
from it. By protecting a kingdom properly and ruling it by the aid of
judicious means, a king, O Yudhishthira, may succeed in always obtai