दिष्टद्वारो लभेद् द्वारं न च राजसु विश्वसेत् ॥
तद् एवासनम् अन्विच्छेद् यत्र नाभिषजेत् परः ॥
नास्य यानं न पर्यङ्कं न पीठं न गजं रथम् ॥
आरोहेत् संमतो ऽस्मीति स राजवसतिं वसेत् ॥
अथ यत्रैनम् आसीनं शङ्केरन् दुष्टचारिणः ॥
न तत्रोपविशेज् जातु स राजवसतिं वसेत् ॥
न चानुशिष्येद् राजानम् अपृच्छन्तं कदा चन ॥
तूष्णीं त्व् एनम् उपासीत काले समभिपूजयन् ॥
असूयन्ति हि राजानो जनान् अनृतवादिनः ॥
तथैव चावमन्यन्ते मन्त्रिणं वादिनं मृषा ॥
नैषां दारेषु कुर्वीत मैत्रीं प्राज्ञः कथं चन ॥
अन्तःपुरचरा ये च द्वेष्टि यानहिताश् च ये ॥
विदिते चास्य कुर्वीत कार्याणि सुलघून्य् अपि ॥
एवं विचरतो राज्ञो न क्षतिर् जायते क्व चित् ॥
यत्नाच् चोपचरेद् एनम् अग्निवद् देववच् च ह ॥
अनृतेनोपचीर्णो हि हिंस्याद् एनम् असंशयम् ॥
diṣṭadvāro labhed dvāraṃ na ca rājasu viśvaset ||
tad evāsanam anvicched yatra nābhiṣajet paraḥ ||
nāsya yānaṃ na paryaṅkaṃ na pīṭhaṃ na gajaṃ ratham ||
ārohet saṃmato 'smīti sa rājavasatiṃ vaset ||
atha yatrainam āsīnaṃ śaṅkeran duṣṭacāriṇaḥ ||
na tatropaviśej jātu sa rājavasatiṃ vaset ||
na cānuśiṣyed rājānam apṛcchantaṃ kadā cana ||
tūṣṇīṃ tv enam upāsīta kāle samabhipūjayan ||
asūyanti hi rājāno janān anṛtavādinaḥ ||
tathaiva cāvamanyante mantriṇaṃ vādinaṃ mṛṣā ||
naiṣāṃ dāreṣu kurvīta maitrīṃ prājñaḥ kathaṃ cana ||
antaḥpuracarā ye ca dveṣṭi yānahitāś ca ye ||
vidite cāsya kurvīta kāryāṇi sulaghūny api ||
evaṃ vicarato rājño na kṣatir jāyate kva cit ||
yatnāc copacared enam agnivad devavac ca ha ||
anṛtenopacīrṇo hi hiṃsyād enam asaṃśayam ||
"Whoever has a right to a door should enter by that door; and one should never trust kings. Let him seek out a seat where no one else could accuse him. Let him not mount his master's vehicle, couch, seat, elephant, or chariot, thinking, 'I am held in favor' -- this is how one must live at a king's court. If wicked people might suspect him because of the place where he sits, let him never sit there. Let him not instruct the king when the king does not ask; let him serve him in silence, and at the proper time render him honor. For kings resent people who speak falsehood, and in just the same way they despise a counsellor who speaks falsely. The wise man should never, under any circumstance, form a friendship with the king's wives, with those who move about in the inner chambers, or with those the king hates or who harm his mounts. Even the smallest matters should be done with his knowledge; one who conducts himself thus around a king never comes to harm anywhere. One must attend upon him carefully, as upon fire and as upon a god -- for if he is served with falsehood, he will surely destroy the one who serves him."
1b81e9ceb300 · published Jul 16, 2026, 5:58:59 PM UTC
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Dhaumya's counsel is practical and severe. Humility here is no slavish weakness but the discipline of one who knows: proximity to power, without purity and measure, destroys.