Shadgunya Adhyaya 8 Sutra 28 - Arthashastra | Bengali | Vedapath

Kautilya

Sutra 28

Devanagari script

यं तु मन्येत कृतार्थो मे दण्डं गृह्णीयादमित्राटव्यभूम्यनृतुषु वा वासयेदफलं वा कुर्यादिति दण्डव्यासङ्गापदेशेन नैनमनुगृह्णीयात् ॥ कZ_०७.८.२८ ॥

Transliteration

yaṃ tu manyeta kṛtārtho me daṇḍaṃ gṛhṇīyād amitrāṭavībhūmyanṛtuṣu vā vāsayed aphalaṃ vā kuryād iti daṇḍavyāsaṅgāpadeśena nainam anugṛhṇīyāt.

Translation

কিন্তু যাকে রাজা ‘কৃতার্থ/তৃপ্ত’ মনে করেন—যে দণ্ড (বলপ্রয়োগের ক্ষমতা) নিজের হাতে নিয়ে নিতে পারে, বা শত্রু-দেশ/অরণ্য/সীমান্তভূমিতে অঋতুতে অবস্থান করতে পারে, বা নিষ্ফল হয়ে পড়তে পারে—তাকে ‘দণ্ড-ব্যাসঙ্গ’ (দণ্ডে অতিরিক্ত আসক্তি/জড়িয়ে পড়া) এই অজুহাতে আর অনুগ্রহ করা উচিত নয়।

Word by Word

यम्whom

तुbut/indeed

मन्येतshould think

कृतार्थःsuccessful; having achieved one’s purpose

मेmy/of me

दण्डम्punishment; penalty

गृह्णीयात्should take/seize

अमित्राटवीभूम्यनृतुषुin enemy territory, in forests, in (difficult) terrain/land, or in unseasonable times

वाor

वासयेत्should keep/quarter (someone)

अफलम्fruitless; without result

वाor

कुर्यात्should do/make

इतिthus (thinking)

दण्डव्यासङ्गापदेशेनby the pretext of (undue) attachment to punishment

नnot

एनम्him

अनुगृह्णीयात्should show favor/indulge (him)

Entities Mentioned

king (implicit)

favored subordinate/agent

enemy (amitra)

forest/frontier zone (āṭavī)

FAQs

What is the administrative intent behind denying favor ‘on the pretext of daṇḍa-vyāsaṅga’ ?

To limit a potentially dangerous subordinate’s access to coercive resources while keeping the decision politically defensible (a neutral bureaucratic reason rather than open suspicion).

What risks are being flagged in this verse?

(1) appropriation of coercive power, (2) harmful/inefficient deployments (enemy/forest/untimely season), and (3) strategic unproductiveness.