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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[NOVEMBER, 1909.
The king who occupies a territory close to both the conqueror and his immediate enemy in front and who is capable of helping both the kings, whether united or disunited, or of resisting either of them individually is termed a Madhyama (mediatory) king.
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He who is situated beyond the territory of any of the above kings and who is very powerful and capable of helping the enemy, the conqueror, and the Madhyama king together or individually, or of resisting any of them individually, is a neutral king (uddsina), these are the (twelve) primary
kings.
The conqueror, his friend, and his friend's friend are the three primary kings constituting a circle of states. As each of these three kings possesses the five elements of sovereignty, such as the minister, the country, the fort, the treasury, and the army, a circle of states consists of eighteen elements. Thus, it needs no commentary to understand that the (three) circles of states having the enemy (of the conqueror), the Madhyama king, or the neutral king at the centre of each of the three circles, are different from that of the conqueror. Thus there are four primary circles of states, twelve kings, sixty elements of sovereignty, and seventy-two elements of states, 18
Each of the twelve primary kings shall have their elements of sovereignty, power and end. Strength is power, and happiness is the end.
Strength is of three kinds: power of deliberation is intellectual strength; the possession of a prosperous treasury and a strong army is the strength of sovereignty; and martial power is physical strength.
The end is also of three kinds: that which is attainable by deliberation is the end of deliberation; that which is attainable by the strength of sovereignty is the end of sovereignty; and that which is to be secured by perseverance is the end of martial power.
The possession of power and happiness in a greater degree makes a king superior to another; in a leas degree, inferior; and in an equal degreo, equal. Hence a king shall always endeavour to augment his own power and elevate his happiness.
A king who is equal to his enemy in the matter of his sovereign elements shall, in virtue of his own righteous conduct or with the help of those who are hostile or conspiring against his enemy, endeavour to throw his enemy's power into the shade; or if he thinks:
"That my enemy, possessed as he is of immense power, will, yet in the near future, hurt the elements of his own sovereignty, by using cotu melions language, by inflicting severe punishments, and by squandering his wealth; that though attaining success for a time, yet he will blindly take himself to hunting, gambling, drinking, and women; that as his subjects are disaffected, himself powerless and haughty, I can overthrow him; that when attacked, he will take shelter with all his paraphernalia into a fort or elsewhere; that possessed as he is of a strong army, he will yet fall into my hands, as he has neither a friend nor a fort to help him; that a distant king is desirous to put down his own enemy, and also inclined to help me to put down my own assailable enemy when my resources are poor; or that I may be invited as a Madhyama king," for these reasons, the conqueror may allow his enemy to grow in strength and to attain success for the time being.
(a) Throwing the circumference of the circle of states beyond his friend's territory, and making the kings of those states as the spokes of that circle, the conqueror shall make himself as the nave of that circle.
(b) A reducible or a conquerable enemy will, when placed between a conqueror and the conqueror's friend, appear to be growing in strength.19
(To be continued.)
18 (1) The conqueror's cirole of states; (2) the enemy's cirele of states; (3) The Madhyama king's circle of states; (4) the noutral king's circle of states. As each of the twelve primary kings has five elements of sovereignty, the total number of elements is sixty. These sixty elements with the twelve kings amount to seventy-two elements. 19 a and b are in sloka metre.
