15
RULES TORULERS
. . . Eternal Wisdom from Epics
PRAYAGA RAMAKRISHNA
Translated from Telugu
D. RANGARAO
Foreword by
SWAMI JNANADANANDA
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RULES TO RULERS...Eternal Wisdom from Epics
Prayaga Ramakrishna
Cover DesignShakiil’Hmed
IllustrationsBapu
Translation from TeluguD. Ranga Rao
ForewordSwami JnanadanandaAdhyaksha, Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad
First Edition : December, 2010
© Prayaga Ramakrishna
For copies:Prayaga RamakrishnaA/11, Amba Gardens,Mehdipatnam, Hyderabad-500028Ph: 040-23526555, Mobile : 9849990107e-mail: [email protected]
Price : Rs. 200Overseas : $ 8
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Prayaga Ramakrishna is a household name as a writer and seasonedbroadcaster. His creative writings Bharatamlo Chinna Kathalu,Bheeshma @ Management & Governance, Epics & Ethics,Upanishath Kathalu, Commentary to BhartruhariSubhashitalu won the accolades of Readers and Critics alike.He translated Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels into Telugu.Ramakrishna’s stories based on ancient wisdom co-relating to thearea of modern management are highly appreciable and his booksBheeshma @ Management and Governance, Epics & Ethics aretranslated into English. His debut work Bharatamlo ChinnaKathalu won the Delhi Telugu Academy Award (1994). He wasalso a recipient of the Viswadaatha Award (1997) instituted inthe name of Desoddharaka Nageswara Rao Pantulu, the greatfreedom fighter and stalwart in the field of Journalism, whofounded and edited Andhra Patrika. He was presented with BharatGourav award by the Indian Economic Development and ResearchAssociation (IEDRA) New Delhi, for the book Bhishma@Management and Governance (2005). Also received SreepadaSubrahmanya Sastry Sahitya Puraskaram for his literary works(2008). He is a captivating orator and addresses many forumsincluding literary, academic, management and serviceorganisations.
ABOUT THEAUTHOR
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D. Ranga Rao took his M.A. degree in English Language andLiterature from Andhra University, P.G.D.T.E and M.Litt in EnglishLanguage Teaching from CIEFL, now EFLU. He started teaching in adegree college in 1953 and as a teacher trainer and educator at Collegeand University levels from 1976. He was Principal of Degree and P.G.Govt. and Private Colleges from 1983 to 1995. He was a member ofthe external faculty of the Distance Education Dept. of EFLU from1984 to 2008. He was Senator, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati,during 1983-86.
He was Chief Producer and Co-ordinator for PRAGATHI, aneducational programme of 365 episodes of syllabus oriented T.V.teaching for +2 students and translated a couple of hundred episodes ofeducational and general interest telecast by Eenadu Television( ETV)from 1995 to 1999. He was Producer, Mana .T.V of Andhra PradeshGovt. for degree classes telecast during 2002-2004. He had scriptedand recorded audio lessons in English for +2 students for the Board ofIntermediate Education during 1986-89.
He took to translating Telugu works into English in the year 2000and translated the novels and short stories of eminent writers.
The translations published are:
l PEARL PALANQUIN( Mutyala pallaki), 2001;
l LIGHT AND SHADE( Velugu Needa), 2002, by Govindaraju SitaDevi;
l KAUSALYA, by Polapragada Satyanarayana Murthy, 2003,
ABOUT THETRANSLATOR
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l REED BUSHES( Rellu Podalu), byPolapragada RajyaLakshimi,2003;
l LIVING TOGETHER AND OTHER STORIES by D.Kameswari,2003;
l BED OF THORNS (Ampaseyya) by Naveen,2004;
l FRESH SPROUTS AND DEW DROPS( Kotta Chigullu ManchuBinduvulu) by Polapragada Rajya Lakshmi,2006,
l DEDICATION –Stories by Itha Chandraiah,2006;
l TRAVELLER’S BUNGALOW AND OTHER STORIES, ByPolapragada RajyaLakshmi, 2007;
l MADHURANTAKAM RAJARAM’S STORIES( 49) forSAHITYA ACADEMI, 2007.
l THREE GENERATIONS ( Moodu Tharalu) by Modepalli SrilathaKotapati 2008;
l EPICS AND ETHICS essays by Prayaga Ramakrishna,2010.
l NEETHICHANDRIKA for C.P.Brown Academy, Hyderabad, 2010.
l LIVE LIFE KING SIZE ( stories ) by Amballa Janardhan, Mumbai,2010.
The following translations are awaiting publication:
l TARGET(Lakshyam) and THE GOAL(Gamyam), novels byPrabhakar Jaini,
l TELANGANA STORIES, By B.S. Ramulu,
l FAMOUS ANDHRA JOURNALISTS by R. Ekambaracharylu,
l MANASA SAROVARAM-KAILASAGIRI (travelogue) by Sukanya,
l Five novels by Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani.
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l Selected Stories of O.HENRY (100) translated into Telugu forPragathi Publishers, Hyderabad (in print).
l The translation into English of the monograph on ARUDRA byMedipalli Ravikumar for SAHITYA ACADEMI.
l The World’s Strongmen-biographical sketches by K. Krishnaiah
THE MAID’S TRAGEDY, the play by Beaumont and Fletcher, wasedited with critical introduction and notes for the Macmillans,Madras, in 1986.
DEAR READER, his book of essays, stories and sketches, waspublished by him in 2008.
He was honoured by Vishva Sahiti, Hyderabad, in 2005 for hisservices in translating Telugu works into English.
Other translations of novels and stories are in progress.
He has been the Associate Editor, TRIVENI, the English nationalliterary and cultural journal, since 1998.
ADDRESS: 1-9-485/8/4, Plot – 37,Lalitha Nagar,Hyderabad-44. Tel : 040-65534991 Mob: 9000225749
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CONTENTS
1. Lord Brahma’s Treatise on Statecraft 1
2. The King is The Soul,The People, The Body 7
3. Nothing should grow into a Vice with Kings 13
4. Judge the King and Choose the Wife 19
5. People should Feel the King is ‘Our Man’ 25
6. Kings should be Pathfinder for the People 31
7. Royal Blemishes are Fourteen 37
8. Virtue – A Must for Kings 43
9. Ministers should know Adminstrative Strategy 49
10. Be a Recluse in Oldage ! 57
11. Respectable Living is King’s Responsibility 63
12. A Leader does not forget his Goal 71
13. Money makes all Things 77
14. ‘Jayaho’ Lessons from Animals Also 83
15. Peoples’ Happiness is the Touchstone of Prosperity 89
16. Imitate the ‘Sri Rama Mode’ of Rule 95
17. Never Make Empty Promises 99
18. Rulers should follow Justice and Duty 105
19. Vain Bragging 117
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20. Overlooking Mistakes is also a Mistake 125
21. Victors are those Who Serve Society 131
22. Stain is Fine ! 137
23. Social Entrepreneurship – The Need 145
24. At Times of Danger and Hunger 153
25. Organize Yourself 159
26. Human Capital 167
27. Rulers should be like Generous Karna 177
28. One who Seeks the Welfare of the City (Pura) is the Purohit 185
29. Good Governance 191
30. Honey-Sweet Memories 199
Glossary 208
Sorces / References 212
1
LORD BRAHMA’STREATISE ONSTATECRAFT
Lord Brahma scripted the science ofstatecraft for the rulers explaining theprinciples of dharma to be followed bythem to make people live happily.
He said that mankind would becomenoble if the principles mentioned in thetreatise were followed.
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The Mahabharata states that there was no one answering thedescription of a king in Kritayuga. People lived following theprinciples of dharma protecting one another. As time passedadharma (evil) established itself. The qualities of covetousness,sensuality, envy and jealousy filled the minds of people. They fellinto evil ways. Divine beings felt enervated as good deeds becamescarce. They hastened to Lord Brahma the Creator and appealedto him to re-establish dharma and restore normalcy in the world.It was then that Lord Brahma scripted the science of statecraft forthe rulers explaining the principles of dharma to be followed bythem to make people live happily. He explained in the treatise thescience of reasoning, the essence of the three Vedas, the informationabout cultivation, commerce, cattle rearing, dairy farming etc.which were the main supports for livelihood of the ancient times,principles connected with royal polity known as danda neethi andthe ways and means that promote justice, prosperity, sensualityand salvation for man. The treatise ran into ten million chapters.He said that mankind would become noble if the principlesmentioned in the treatise were followed.
Vishalaksha realised that people do not possess either theintelligence or the longevity required to read such a massive bookand condensed it into ten thousand chapters. Vishalaksha was noneother than Lord Eswara who assumed that name and form, afteremanating from the brow of Lord Brahma. The treatise was calledVishalaksham. Later Indra shortened it to five thousand chapters.Shukra further cut it to size into a thousand chapters. Our firstbook on effective statecraft came into being in this manner.
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Now all the divine beings approached Lord Vishnu the Preserverand requested him to send a person who would take up theresponsibility of protecting the people, following the principlesof the science of royal polity as enunciated by Brahma. Lord Vishnugave them ‘Viraja,’ his spiritual heir created from his glowing divineenergy. But Viraja refused to be king and rule the people. He hadabsolutely no desire to go to Bhooloka, the world of the mortals.Instead, he spent his time doing penance. His son Kardama alsodid not agree to be a ruler. The son of Kardama, Ananga, ruled thepeople implementing the laws of governance as stipulated byBrahma. King Venu, who succeeded Ananga, fell a victim to envyand hatred, indulged in irregularities and became the enemy ofpeople. He banned sacrificial rites and curtailed charitable activities.“I am God,” he declared and said that he was the performer ofsacrificial rites and also the one to receive the benefits of thoserites. “I am worthy to be worshipped and every benefit shouldbelong to me,” he bragged. He spoke ill of the sages. They grewwild at his behaviour and destroyed him with their power ofpenance. The kingdom became anarchical without a king and fellinto the hands of robbers.
Then all the great sages thought over the situation and churnedthe left hand of Venu. A short person, black as a charred piece ofwood with red eyes emerged. The sages took him to the forest andleft him there. Now the sages churned the right arm of Venu. Ahandsome person holding a bow and arrows, protected by anarmour, one who had studied the Vedas, Vedangas andDhanurveda, was born. This person became the new ruler. Hewas none other than Vainya. He was Prudhu Chakravarthi. He
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performed a yaga called Paitha Maha Yaga. From out of the Yaga,the Sutamagadhas, the heralds, were born. The sages asked themto praise the king. “Why, he was born only a short while ago.What great things has he achieved for us to praise him?” asked theSutamagadhas. The sages answered them saying, “Tell him whatthe good qualities are that a person, who is going to be a king orone who wishes to be a king, should posses. Instruct him also thethings that are good for the people and those that are not good forthem and how he should manage his rule, doing good to thepeople.”
“A king should be an upholder of truth, one who is committedto truth, one wedded to dharma and to gratefulness. He should bemodest, kind, sparing in his speech, pleasing in his talk, one whorespects the elders, is knowledgeable in all principles of justice andhas a friendly disposition. He should be one who likes the meekand the mild, punishes the wicked and protects the good. He mustbe brave, courageous and valiant, in short, he should be a man ofcharacter who possesses good qualities,” said the Sutamagadhasextolling the qualities of a king.
Vainya assured the sages that he would keep in mind all thequalities described by the Sutamagadhas and act accordingly. Thesages were happy. The divine beings and the sages installed himking by anointing him. Shukracharya became his priest and Garga,his astrologer. The earth, the mountains and the seas came inhuman form and served him. Indra presented him with wealth,the mountain Meru and a lot of gold. Kubera bestowed on himunlimited riches. People lived happily in his rule and never knewfear.
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Bhishma in the Mahabharata tells Dharmaraja of the dutiesincumbent on a king: Since the ruler of a kingdom protects thefallen and the broke, he is called a kshatriya, as he makes the peoplejoyous he is called a king. Lord Sri Vishnu’s desire was that thereshould be a king, that he should establish a kingdom and the peopleshould live happily without over-riding his word. All the kingspossess His divine spark in them. That is the reason why a king isconsidered godly. It is possible for the entire world to be under thecontrol of a single person only when that person possesses thedivine spark in him.
A king who rules the people should not get perturbed whateverthe sacrifices he has to make or the difficulties he has to face in thedischarge of his duties. Individual profits and benefits are not ofimportance to him. He should think of the country’s prestige as ofparamount importance. He has to frame for himself highestprinciples to follow in personal life and in public life. He shouldnot pawn the social good of people and the safety of the countryfor his selfish ends and personal benefit. Kings should be withouta blemish. They should not indulge in activities that help only afew and harm the many.
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