good governance - raamaa's style - post 9

[Guest guest]

Post 9

 

Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

Continuing the topic of "good governance- raamaa's style", we saw in post 8, the

king must have a good spy network to have proper "information management

system". In this post we will see "financial management" points as available /

covered / mentioned in srimadh raamaayaNam.

 

See the first point - income for the kingdom and its expenditure.

 

aayasthE vipula: kachchith kachchidh alpa tharO vyaya: |

apaathrEshu na thE kachchith kOsO gachchhathi raaghava: || 2- 100 - 47

 

raaghava: = oh bharathaa, who has come in the raghu clan

kachchith thE aaya: vipula: = is your income sufficient

kachchidh vyaya: alpa thara: = is your expenditure less

kachchith apaathrEshu = to the undeserving

thE kOsa: na gachchhathi = your treasury is not going

 

meaning: dear bharathaa, is your income sufficient and less than your

expenditure. Are you ensuring the money from treasury is not going to the

undeserving.

 

Point: Dear bhakthaas, see here the important point. For any government, there

should be adequate income by way of levy of taxes etc. Similarly the expenditure

also to be less than the income. This means some reserves must be created, so

that these funds are used for development works and long term capital expenses.

Another important point is that the money should not be spent in unproductive

and on undeserving wasteful expenditure [may be people or item of expenditure].

This also clearly indicates the budget has to be a surplus budget and not a

deficit one, as nowadays we are seeing. May be, deficit financing is one of the

ills of present day financial management.

 

A surplus budget does not mean people are to be squeezed beyond limits, with

high levels of taxes. See here how the king dhasaratha's ministers did.

 

kOsa sangrahaNE yukthaa balasya cha parigrahE |

ahitam cha api purusham na himsyur avidhooshakam || 1-7-11

 

kOsha sangrahaNE yukthaa = dutiful in collections to the treasury

balasya cha parigrahe = in militarising of armies also

a hitam cha api purusham = unfriendly even to one person

na himsyu: = not tortured

a vi dhooshakam = not verily blameworthy.

 

Meaning: The ministers and the adminstrators of king dhasaratha, in collections

to their treasury and or to militarise their armies, are dutiful. Even an

unfriendly person will not be tortured, if he were not verily blameworthy.

 

brahma kshathram ahimsantha: thE kOsam samapoorayan |

sutheekshNa dhaNdaa: samprEkshya purushasya balaabalam || 1-7-13

 

brahma kshathram = brahmans, kshathriya-s;

a himsanta: thE = not persecute they

kOsam samapoorayan = to fill up treasury

sutheekshNa dhanDaa: = high degree punishments

samprEkshya = after assessing

purushasya = person's

bala abalam = strength weakness.

 

Meaning: They do not persecute brahmin-s and kshatriya-s to fill-up the

treasury. Similarly high degree punishments are given after assessing different

person's, [the offender's,] strengths and weaknesses.

 

Point: The ministers assess the country's overall strength financially, man

powerwise in army etc, and then accordingly levy the taxes. Same is the case

while ordering punishments.

 

Another point is the brahmins and kshathriyaas are the cream of people. The

vysyaas the commerce people will any how pay the taxes at the source. So other

two are to be persuaded to pay the taxes. The fourth class is any how servants

and their masters only have to pay taxes. That is why the specific point of

brahmins and kshathriyaas are mentioned here.

 

See the next point - expenditure also has to be timely. The king and his

ministers must ensure the timely dispensing of salary perks and other reliefs.

That is understood by the question posed by raamaa to brother bharathaa.

 

kachchidh balasya bhaktham cha vEthanam cha yathaa uchitham |

sampraaptha kaalam dhaathavyam dhadhaasi na vilambasE || 2- 100 - 32

 

kachchidh balasya = to the army of employees

bhaktham cha = the requisite perks of people [meaning employees]

vEthanam cha = and the salary

yathaa uchitham = when it is fit

sampraaptha kaalam dhaathavyam = must reach in time

vilambasE na dhadhaasi = you are not to delay the payment

 

meaning: to the employees of the kingdom and defence forces, the salary and

perks must be disbursed by the king and ministers in proper time at regular

intervals. This disbursement is not to belayed.

 

kaalaathikramaNE hi Eva bhaktha vEthanayOr bhruthaa: |

bharthu: api kupyanthi sa: anartha: sumahaan krutha: || 2- 100 - 33

 

kaala athikramaNE hi = if delayed in time

Eva bhaktha = these people

vEthanayOr bhruthaa: = sustains by slaries

bharthu: api = even if husband or closely related

kupyanthi sa: = he becomes angry

anartha: = trouble

sumahaan krutha: = great is done

 

meaning: if these peole do not get their wages in time they get angry with the

king and that causes great damage to the sovereign.

 

Point: the salary and perks are to be disbursed in regular intervals. Not only

the timeliness, that salry & perks have to be quantity wise sufficient to keep

these people happy. That is what stressed here. Also stressed is when the times

are bad for certain section of people king has to give tax exemptions or tax

holidays [as modern day financial and taxation experts call it]. See here,

giving tax reliefs and providing doles to the deserving is also part of king's

duty.

 

Doles - means - as said earlier - the money should not go to undeserving. Just

compare the present day conditions. See here raamaa asks bharathaa are you doing

it?

 

thEshaam gupthi pareehaarai: kachchith thE bharaNam krutham |

rakshyaa hi raajnyaa dharmENa sarvE vishayavaasina:|| 2-100-48

 

thEshaam = all people

kachchith gupthi pareehaarai: = giving tax exemptions and monetary reliefs

thE bharaNam krutham = have to be protected

rakshyaa hi raajnyaa = safety and governance

dharmENa =with dharma as the basic

sarvE vishayavaasina: = all people

 

meaning: hey bharathaa, all people in the kingdom deserve protection in the

right way from the king by good governance. To facilitate that are you giving

tax exemptions and monetary reliefs when it is needed by people.

 

Point: As a result of such policies see what was the situation in the country on

the financial front.

 

na akuNdalee na amukutee na asragvee na alpa bhOgavaan |

na amrushtO na alipthaangO na asugandha: cha vidhyathE || 1-6-10

 

na akundalee = without earrings

na amukutee = without headgear

na asragvee = without garlands

na alpa bhOgavaan = no lowly enjoyer

na amrushta: = none without oil-baths

na a liptha anga: = none not cream-coated body

na a sungandha: cha = none un-perfumed also

vidhyathE = verifiable.

 

Meaning: Without his [golden] earrings, his headgear, or his garlands, there is

none in ayOdhyaa. There is no lowly enjoyer and none without [regular]

oil-baths, or un-creamed [with sandalwood paste or with other body creams,] or

without an un-perfumed body, is verifiable in that city.

 

Point: Ear rings are the indicators of scholarship, and there are grades in

their make and design, on par with the education one receives. The headgears

present their social status, while other decorations are to exhibit their

lavishness.

 

kashchin narO vaa naaree vaa na asreemaan na api aroopavaan |

dhrashtum sakyam ayOdhyaayaam na api raajanya abhakthimaan || 1-6-16

 

kaschin = whoever

nara: vaa naaree vaa = gentleman or lady

na asreemaan = none without wealth

na api = not even

aroopavaan = without elegance

dhrashtum = to see

asakyam = not possible

ayOdhyayaam = in ayOdhya

na api = not even

raajanya abhakthimaan = to the king not devout

 

Meaning: Whoever it may be, either a gentleman or a lady, none was without

wealth. None was without elegance or devotion to their king. It is impossible

to see such persons in ayOdhya.

 

Such is the financial management. In next post we will see the timeliness of

actions by the king.

 

Dhasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.