good governance - raama's style - post 11

[Guest guest]

Post 11

 

Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

My sincere apologies to all of you, for the delay in continuing this topic, as I

away on official commitments, besides other pressures in the seat. Continuing

the topic of "good governance- raamaa's style", we saw in post 10, the points on

how the king must act 'in time'.

 

In this post, we will see how the portfolio of defence of the country is to be

managed.

Defence and the chief commandant:

 

kachchid dhrushtascha soorascha dhruthimaan mathimaan suchi: |

kuleena: cha anuraktha: cha daksha: sEnaapathi: krutha: || 2- 100 - 30

[ayOdhyaa kaaNdam 100th sargam slokam 30]

 

sEnaapathi: = the chief commandment [general or field marshall as per modern

day's designations]

dhrushta: cha = one who has self satisfaction,

soora: cha = one who is valiant

dhruthimaan = who does not give up easily,

mathimaan = highly intelectual

suchi: = clean

kuleena: cha = born of a good lineage

anuraktha: cha = who is loyal

daksha: = who has initiative on own

kachchid krutha: = has been appointed

 

meaning: Raama asks bharatha when they met in the forest - dear bharatha, have

you appointed a person as the chief of the army [or general or field marshal of

the army as present day designations are given],

* who has self satisfaction,

* valiant,

* who has the tendency to strive and not give up easily in difficult situations,

* highly intellectual and sharp,

* has a clean hand,

* comes from good lineage,

* who is loyal to the king

* has self intitative to tackle situations.

 

Point: The chief, if he is fulfilling all these requirements for a king, that

king's position is very good from the point of defense preparedness. A loyal,

and clever, self initiative person as chief of army will be an asset to the

king. Not only that he will like to have persons of similar calibre as his

assistants. So the army becomes a sound one.

 

Further, when opportunity arises, the king also recognises the talent of the

army personnel. Recognition by the top management is an important motivator for

higher achievements in any field, as the modern day management experts say. See

here, raama puts across in simple terms, about this recognition by way of

conferring honours on the army commandants.

 

balavantha: cha kachchith thE mukhyaa: yudhDha visaaradhaa: |

dhrushtaapadhaanaa vikraanthaasthvayaa sathkruthya maanithaa: || 2-100- 31

 

thE mukhyaa: = your commandants

balavantha: cha = mighty

yuddha visaaradhaa: = clever in war strategies

dhrushta apadhaanaa = known for their clean character

vikraanthaa: =ever victorious

thvayaa sathkruthya = appointed by you

kachchith maanithaa: = honoured

 

meaning: raamaa continues to ask bharathaa - hey bharathaa - have you honoured

your important army commandants, who are clever in war strategies, victorious in

war, clean in their habits etc.

 

Point: When the chief officer [general] and the commandants are good and capable

what is the country's position in its defense is nicely spelt here in these two

slOkams.

 

yOdhDhaanaam agni kalpaanaam pEsalaanaam amarsheeNaam |

sampoorNaa krutha vidhyaanaam guhaa kEsariNaam iva || 1-6-21

 

yOdhDhaanaam = warriors

agni kalpaanaam = firebrand

pEsalaanaam = skilful

amarsheeNaam = un-insulted

sampoorNaam = full of

krutha vidhyanaam = practicing, their studies

guhaa = cave

kEsareeNaam iva = lions, like.

 

Meaning: With its firebrand warriors, skillful and un-insulted, and full with

the practitioners of their studies [in archery, chariot-wars, swordplay etc] and

thus that Ayodhya with its capable army, is like a cave of lions. [1-6-21]

 

saa thEna ikshvaaku naathEna puree suparirakshithaa |

yathaa purasthaath manunaa maanavEndhrENa dheemathaa || 1-6-20

 

saa puree = that city

thEna ikshwaku naathEna = by that ikshwaaku clan lord

su pari rakshithaa = very well protected

yatha = like

purasthaath = earlier

manunaa = by Manu

maanava indhrENa = lord of mankind

dheemathaa = the wise king

 

Meaning: That city is well protected by that Lord from ikshwaaku dynasty [namely

dhasarathaa] like manu, the Lord of Mankind, in earlier times. And that wise

king dhasarathhaa, [ruled from that city his kOsala kingdom]. [1-6-20]

 

Next Point: The kings and people of other country are to be treated well, even

after they were defeated in the war. This was done by the victorious king

dhasarathha.

 

This point gives the insight into the good management of the victor that once

war is over, the enmity due to which the war was fought is forgotten. The victor

wins over the people of the other country as well the vanquished king, so that

all become friends admiring each other.

How the enemies can become friends - by seeing the good management of the

defeated people and the victorious king's sincerety to the people at large.

These vanquished kings become friends and the people of the country also hail

the victorious king for his good governance. See slokam

 

balavaan nihatha amithrO mithravaan vijitha indhriya: |

dhanai: cha sanchayai: cha anyai: sakra vaisravaNa upama: || 1-6-3

[baala kaaNdam sargam 6 slokam 3]

 

balavaan nihatha amithra: = the mighty one [dhasaratha] eradicated the

unfriendly ones [enemies]

mithravaan = now has many friends

vijitha indhriya: = who verily conquered the senses

dhanai: cha sanchayai: cha anyai: = with wealth accumulations and others

sakra: vaisravaNa: upama: = similar to indhra and kubera.

 

Meaning: Mighty is that emperor dasarathha with all his enemies eradicated,

nevertheless many are his friends, [vanquished became friends because of the

like-mindedness]. Verily conquered are dhasarathaa's senses. With wealth,

accumulations and with other [possessions,] he is similar to Lord Indra [in

ruling the kingdom and] Lord Kubera [in wealth on this earth.] [1-6-3]

 

Now a point on the preparedness on refugees and deserters:

Once these returnees or people who are defeated join together, they may form a

group and revolt against the present king. Similarly deserters may have their

loyalty elsewhere and that is why they deserted. Hence the present king has to

be alert while dealing with such kind of people. That is being advised by raama

to bharathaa.

 

kachchidh vyapaasthaan ahithaan prathiyaathaamscha sarvadhaa |

dhurbalaan anavajnaaya varthasE ripusoodhana || 2-100- 37

 

ripusoodhana = oh, bharatha, the killer of enemies

vyapaasthaan ahithaan = those who were enemies earlier

prathiyaathaam cha = refugees and returnees

sarvadhaa = always

dhurbalaan = incapable

anavajnaaya = treating

kachchidh varthasE = are you careful

 

meaning: raama warns bharathaa about the people who ran away in a war and then

returned to the original place - hey bharathaa, are you careful about the people

who were enemies earlier and others who deserted the place in the war time,

about the refugees and returnees. Never treat them as incapable and be careful

with these people.

 

We will continue to see in next post how king dhasaratha kept his army full with

horses elephants etc of high class breed. You may ask why dhasarathaas army to

be dealt in raama's governance. The reason is raama asks bharathaa hey

bharathaa, the kind of army father kept, are you maintaining similar or depleted

their strength. That is why we have to look into that.

 

Dhasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.

 

Ps: as usual due to length considerations I am stopping here.