iyas or Vaisyas who, having fallen
away from the proper duties of his order, has become a Sudra, is truly to
be compared to such a washerman. Menial service attaches to the Sudra;
agriculture to the Vaisya; the science of chastisement to the Kshatriya,
and Brahmacharya, penances, mantras, and truth, attach to the Brahmana.
That Kshatriya who knows how to correct the faults of behaviour of the
other orders and to wash them clean like a washerman is really their
father and deserves to be their king. The respective ages called Krita,
Treta, Dwapara and Kali, O bull of Bharata's race, are all dependent on
the conduct of the king. It is the king who constitutes the age.[269]
The four orders, the Vedas and the duties in respect of the four modes of
life, all become confused and weakened when the king becomes heedless.
The three kinds of Fire, the three Vedas, and sacrifices with Dakshina,
all become lost when the king becomes heedless. The king is the creator
of all creatures, and the king is their destroyer. That king who is of
righteous soul is regarded as the creator, while he that is sinful is
regarded as the destroyer. The king's wives, sons, kinsmen, and friends,
all become unhappy and grieve when the king becomes heedless. Elephants
and steeds and kine and camels and mules and asses and other animals all
lose their vigour when the king becomes unrighteous. It is said, O
Mandhatri, that the Creator created Power (represented by the king) for
the object of protecting Weakness. Weakness is, indeed, a great being,
for everything depends upon it.[270] All creatures worship the king. All
creatures are the children of the king. If, therefore, O monarch, the
king becomes unrighteous, all creatures come to grief. The eyes of the
weak, of the Muni, and of the snake of virulent poison, should be
regarded as unbearable. Do not, therefore, come into (hostile) contact
with the weak. Thou shouldst regard the weak as always subject to
humiliation. Take care that the eyes of the weak do not burn thee with
thy kinsmen. In a race scorched by the eyes of the weak, no children take
birth. Such eyes burn the race to its very roots. Do not, therefore, come
into (hostile) contact with the weak. Weakness is more powerful than even
the greatest Power, for that Power which is scorched by Weakness becomes
totally exterminated. If a person, who has been humiliated or struck,
fails, while shrieking for assistance, to obtain a protector, divine
chast