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2. GOOD RULERS AND BAD RULERS
That ruler stays long in power, who acts like a skilled
gardener: rehabilitating uprooted ones,
watching the blooming ones,
strengthening the weak, bending down the too tall ones, weakening the excessively strong ones, separating the
clustered ones, trimming the thorny
ones and protecting the ones that have come
up by themselves.
A ruler who follows the right path would be like Lord Krishna:
evil designs of enemies would be warded
off by God's grace.
The good quality of a ruler and a servant is that which fills
the treasury and the storeroom
(respectively).
The spendthrift, the orphan, the quarrelsome, the sick, the one
who eats everything indiscriminately
perish fast.
It is better not to have a ruler rather than have a bad ruler.
It is better not to have a friend rather than have a bad friend.
It is better not to have a disciple rather than have a bad
disciple.
It is better not to have a wife rather than have a bad wife.
Where is happiness for the people in a state ruled by a bad
ruler?
Where is happiness from a bad friend?
Where is pleasure in a home from a bad wife?
Where is fame to one who teaches a bad disciple?
Rulers are like snakes: both are hooded, fond of enjoyment
and protective covering, cruel and
crooked in movement, but are controllable
by counsel
(as snakes are controlled by mantras).
There is no trust in a bad friend,
no pleasure in a bad wife, no
happiness under a bad ruler, no life in a bad country.