Guest guest Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 Post 8 Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer, Continuing the topic of "good governance- raamaa's style", we saw in post 7, the king's duty is to, always, keep his people or subjects happy. Another important point for any efficient administration, * be it a corporate entity * the government * a small family is the "information management" or "information system" to keep that particular set up in its 'spirits'. This is the highlight of modern management concepts. But the same is described very effectively in srimadh raamaayaNam. Since modern gadgets what we have nowadays like email, telephone, radio and TV etc, were not there, those days, the most effective information flow system was using a network of spies [oRRar or vEvukaarar in tamil - not exactly who spy on the military information alone]. This spy network system was preferred then, along with the direct reporting by ministers and other officials to the king. This also enabled the king to check the veracity of information coming to him, through his team of ministers and other officials, through his own trusted spies. So a longer dealing is found on this 'spies' in all sargams mentioned earlier. Raamaa asks his brother bharathaa in the kaschith sargam - Do you keep an eye on the eighteen functionaries of other kings and the fifteen functionaries of your own kingdom, through three tiers of independent spies?" kachchidh ashtaa dhasa anyEshu sva pakshE dhasa pancha cha | thribhi: thribhi: avijnaathai: vEthsi theerthaani chaarakai: || 2 - 100 - 36 kachchidh ashtaa dhasa = the eighteen [functionaries] anyEshu = of others [meaning other kings] sva pakshE = in own side dhasa pancha cha = fifteen [functionaries] thribhi: thribhi: = in multiples of three or in triplets avijnaathai: = with out others knowing vEthsi = do you weave a network theerthaani = sources chaarakai: = of spies meaning: hey bharathaa, have you created a net work of spies in three tiers, to keep a tab on the eighteen functionaries of other kings, and the fifteen functionaries of your own kingdom. [Point: The eighteen functionaries referred here are: 1. The Chief Minister 2. The King's family Priest 3. The Crown Prince 4. The General of the army 5. The chief warder 6. The chamberlain 7. The Superintendent of jails 8. The Chancellor of the exchequer 9. The Herald 10. The Government Advocate 11. The Judge 12. The Assessor 13. The revenue officer disbursing salaries to army men 14. The treasury officer drawing money from the state exchequer to disburse wages to the workmen of the kingdom 15. The City Kotwal (mayor of the city) 16. The protector of the borders of a kingdom, who also performed the duties of a forester 17. The magistrates 18. The officer entrusted with the conservation of waters, hills, forests and tracts difficult to access. The fifteen functionaries of one's own side are the last fifteen of this very list, omitting the first three, viz., the chief minister, the family priest and the crown prince.] Point: The king must get information from three different spies, watching the same offcial identified above, so that the king can cross check the veracity of the information and act in conjunction or in isolation of the chief minister. See here, soorpanaka asks her brother king raavaNa you do not have proper spies. ayuktha chaaram dhurdharsam asva adheenam naraadhipam | varjayanthi naraa dooraath nadhee pankam iva dhvipaa: || 3-33-5 a yuktha chaaram = improper or not associated or unarranged spies [who are not loyal to king] dhur dharsam naraadhipam = impossible to see or imperceivable king a sva adheenam naraadhipam = king not in one's own control [ king who is not self-disciplined] naraa: varjayanthi = people eschew [the king] dhooraath nadhee pankam dhvipaa: iva = from a distance, like the elephant caught in a quick sand Meaning: When spies are improper or unarranged, not loyal to the king, and the king is imperceivable to the people, he is also not self-disciplined, people eschew such a king from a distance, like an elephant caught in the quicksand in a river. Point: soorpanakha knows that Ravana has spies all around, but she also knows that they are worthless fellows. The spies narrate stories and mythologies after every thing is ruined, as was done by Akampana in the previous chapter of aaraNya kaaNda. See here the selection of word "ayuktha chaaram" - improper spies - for a king who has selected a bad group of spies, naturally his information management is poor. So naturally his decisions taken on such poor info will also be defective. The lesson to be learnt from this advice is, have yuktham chaaram - proper spies. See the continuation by soorpanaka - aathmavadhbhi: vigruhya thvam dhEva gandharva dhaanavai: | ayuktha chaara: chapala: katham raajaa bhavishyasi || 3-33-7 thvam aathmavadhbhi: vigruhya = you, rejected belligerent [with clear-headed and sensible gods, gandharvaas] dhEva gandharva dhaanavai: = with gods gandharvaas, other demons a yuktha chaara: = having improper intelligence agents chapala: = you the vacillant katham raajaa bhavishyasi = how can you thrive as king Meaning: hey raavaNa, You are belligerent with sensible gods, gandharva-s and other demons, and devoid of good intelligence agents. How a vacillant like you can thrive as a king. Point: Soorpanaka asks - Your enmity with the sensible gods will make them sensitive to be vigilant for your lack of intelligence agents. Lack of your own intelligence and lacking insistence in kingship is also added minus point of you. Will, not, they take opportunity to hit you back for every thing is lacking in you except lust? Again the insistence is on having a good spy network for efficiency in conducting the raajya Bhaaram. See two more slokas of soorpanaka on this "spies" position. yEshaam chaara: cha kOsa: cha naya: cha jayathaam vara | asvaadheenaa narEndhraaNaam praakruthai: thE janai: samaa: || 3-33-9 yEshaam chaara: cha = those spies also kOsa: cha naya: cha = the treasury and also the strategies jayathaam vara = oh, among triumphant ones, the best one a sva adheenaa = not in one's own control nara indhraaNaam samaa: = equate among kings thE janai: praakruthai: = to peasant people Meaning: Those kings who have their spies, treasuries and strategies not in their own control [but bequeathed them to others,] they are like the peasantry among kings. yasmaath pasyanthi dhoorasthaan sarvaan arthaan naraadhipaa: | chaarENa thasmaath uchyanthE raajaanO dheergha chakshusha: || 3-33-10 nara adhipaa: = oh, king of kings yasmaath dhoorasthaan pasyanthi = whereby one sees even distantly situated sarvaan arthaan = all situations chaarENa = through or by the help of spies thasmaath uchyanthe = thereby called dheergha chakshusha: raajaana: = far sighted kings [prescient ones] kings with a vision. Meaning: Whereby some king can see all the distantly positioned situations through their spies, oh, king of kings, thereby those are called prescient kings. Point: To take proper and timely action king must have flow of information. Though the spies bring in various pieces of information, they are to be collated and analysed by the king. So sister advises her brother, you neither have those intelligent spies nor the least intelligence required of a 'prescient king' - far sighted enough to analyse and take timely action. thus your doom is certain. Now see the modern side - information must flow, not only that the leader must be quick enough to react to the information with his own analysis and take proper decisions through his own intelligence or the collective wisdom of his panel of advisors. That is what is said here though in different words. See here the result of having such useless spies. The king does not know his own kith and kin killed in a war and his sister has to reach him to convey this important information. ayuktha chaaram manyE thvaam praakruthai: sachivai: yutha: | sva janam cha janasthaanam nihatham na avabudhyasE || 3-33-11 thvaam manyE = I believe you a yuktha chaaram = improper spies praakruthai: sachivai: yutha: = artless associated ministers sva janam nihatham cha = killing of you own subjects also jana sthaanam = in a place called Janasthaana na avabudhyasE = not perceptive. Meaning: I believe that you have no spies worth their profession, and you are associated with artless ministers worthy only to worship you, and you are unperceptive of the killing of all your subjects in Janasthaana. Point: Again the highlight of this slOka is also having proper spies. So the efficiency of the administration lies in effective spy network, who bring in information from all directions. For that efficient administration, see another sloka from baala kaaNdam - of course, we have seen this earlier in light of the efficient ministers. Same sloka reference is for the good and efficient spy network also. thEshaam avidhitham kinchath svEshu naasthi parEshu vaa | kriyamaaNam krutham vaa api chaarENa api chikeershitham || 1-7-9 thEshaam = to them avidhitham = unknown kinchath = a little svEshu = in their own [country]; na asthi = not there parEshu vaa = in other [countries] either kriyamaaNam = that is happening krutham = already happened vaa api = either that too chaarENa = through spies or agents chikeershitham = that is going to happen. Meaning: There is nothing unknown to them [these ministers], even a little, in their own country or in the others either, and everything that is happening or has happened or that is going to happen, is known through their spy agents. [1-7-9] The efficiency of dhasaratha's, in turn, bharathaas sovereign, was in having a very good spy network in three tiers. We will continue on other points in next post. Dhasan Vasudevan m.g. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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