Kanika was one of the Counsellors in King Dhritarashtra’s court. He was a part of Dhritarashtra’s inner circle. Kanika was said to be well versed in the science of politics and an expert in counsels.
Dritarashtra asked Kanika to advice about how to deal with Pandavas whose valour and fame was on a rise with every passing day. Here are some nuggets of wisdom from that episode which came to be known as Kanika Neeti from then on:
- A King should ceaselessly watch over the faults of their foes and take advantage of them. If the king is always ready to strike, everybody fears him
- He should so conduct himself such that, his foe may not detect any weak side in him
- He should always conceal, like the tortoise concealing its body, his means and ends, and he should always keep back his own weakness from, the sight of others.
- Having begun a particular act, a king should ever accomplish the task thoroughly.
- If the foe is one of great prowess, the king should always watch for the hour of his disaster and then kill him without any scruples
- Kings should sometimes feign blindness and deafness
- A king should not show his foe, any mercy, even if he seeks his protection
- A king must destroy his foes’ roots and branches. Then he should destroy their allies and partisans
- A king should bear his foe upon his shoulders till the time comes when he can throw him down, breaking him into pieces like an earthen pot thrown down with violence upon a stony surface
- The foe must never be let off even though he addresses you most piteously
- By the arts of conciliation, by expenditure of money, by creating disunion amongst his allies, or by the employment of force should the foe be slain!
- If your son, friend, brother, father, or even the spiritual preceptor, anyone becomes your foe, you should, if desirous of prosperity, slay him without scruples
- If two parties are equal and success is uncertain, then he that acts with diligence grows in prosperity
- Even If you are angry, show yourself as if you are not so, speaking even then with a smile on your lips. Never reprove any one with indications of anger. Speak soft words before you smite and even while you are smiting
- You should never permit beggars and thieves to dwell in your kingdom as they transmit critical information
- An army should always be at your command, well trained and equipped, only sharp teeth can give a fatal bite
- If those in whom you confide prove to be your foes, you are certain to be annihilated. Choose your confidants wisely.
- After testing their faithfulness you should employ spies in your own kingdom and in the kingdoms of others. Your spies in foreign kingdoms should be apt deceivers and persons in the garb of ascetics
- Your spies should be placed in gardens, places of amusement, temples and other holy places, drinking halls and streets
- Your spies should also be placed with the minister, the chief priest, the heir-presumptive, the commander-in-chief, the gate-keepers of the court, persons in the inner apartments, the jailor, the chief surveyor, the head of the treasury, the general executant of orders, the chief of the town police, the chief architect, the chief justice, the president of the council, the chief of the punitive department, the commander of the fort, the chief of the arsenal and the chief of the frontier guards.
- You should pursue virtue, wealth and pleasure in limits
- One who is desirous of prosperity should with diligence seek allies and means, and carefully conduct his wars
- A prudent king should ever act in such a way that friends and foes may never know his motive before the commencement of his acts
- A person desirous of prosperity should always exert with prudence, adopting his measures to time and place
- If the foe is insignificant, he should not yet be despised, for he may soon grow like a Palmyra tree extending its roots or like a spark of fire in the deep woods that may soon burst into an extensive conflagration
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