knowledge, friends may from affection be permitted to repeat what is
already known. Even this is subservient to the eternal interests of
virtue, pleasure, and profit. I shall, therefore speak to you something.
Mark ye. To dwell with a king is, alas, difficult. I shall tell you, ye
princes, how ye may reside in the royal household, avoiding every fault.
Ye Kauravas, honourably or otherwise, ye will have to pass this year in
the king's palace, undiscovered by those that know you. Then in the
fourteenth year, ye will live happy. O son of Pandu, in this world, that
cherisher and protector of all beings, the king, who is a deity in an
embodied form, is as a great fire sanctified with all the _mantras_.[6]
One should present himself before the king, after having obtained his
permission at the gate. No one should keep contact with royal secrets.
Nor should one desire a seat which another may covet. He who doth not,
regarding himself to be a favourite, occupy (the king's) car, or coach,
or seat, or vehicle, or elephant, is alone worthy of dwelling in a royal
household. He that sits not upon a seat the occupation of which is
calculated raise alarm in the minds of malicious people, is alone worthy
of dwelling in a royal household. No one should, unasked offer counsel
(to a king). Paying homage in season unto the king, one should silently
and respectfully sit beside the king, for kings take umbrage at
babblers, and disgrace lying counsellors. A wise person should not
contact friendship with the king's wife, nor with the inmates of the
inner apartments, nor with those that are objects of royal displeasure.
One about the king should do even the most unimportant acts and with the
king's knowledge. Behaving thus with a sovereign, one doth not come by
harm. Even if an individual attain the highest office, he should, as
long as he is not asked or commanded, consider himself as born-blind,
having regard to the king's dignity, for O repressers of foes, the
rulers of men do not forgive even their sons and grandsons and brothers
when they happen to tamper with their dignity. Kings should be served