Chapter 12.2 operationalizes prakṛtikopa as a covert fiscal-decapitation doctrine: remove and replace key revenue custodians, then disrupt palace/gate/treasury/granary nodes so the enemy collapses from unpaid obligations and internal distrust. Enemy defeat is pursued by disabling fiscal continuity rather than battlefield annihilation. Key tactic: assassinate/neutralize vulnerable custodians (śūnyapāla) and pivotal collectors (samāhartṛ), then install controllable successors (tatkulīna/aparuddha) to steer the apparatus and manage blame. Targeted arson/killings at palace interiors, gates, and wealth/grain stores interrupt custody, access, and logistics. Operations are designed for plausible deniability, presenting as internal disorder and administrative failure. Outcome: treasury paralysis → troop arrears → alliance slippage → legitimacy erosion → strategic opening for the Vijigīṣu.
Sutra 1
स चेत्संधौ नावतिष्ठेत ब्रूयादेनं इमे शत्रुषड्वर्गवशगा राजानो विनष्टाः तेषामनात्मवतां नार्हसि मार्गमनुगन्तुम् ॥ कZ_१२.२.०१ ॥
If he does not remain firm in the treaty, one should tell him: ‘Kings who fell under the sway of the six internal enemies have perished; you should not follow the path of those without self-mastery.’
Sutra 2
धर्ममर्थं चावेक्षस्व ॥ कZ_१२.२.०२ ॥
Consider both dharma (legitimacy/just order) and artha (material interest/power).
By collapsing the enemy’s revenue collection and custody (samāhartṛ, stores of dravya-dhānya) and destabilizing access nodes (antaḥpura, puradvāra), the Vijigīṣu reduces the duration and cost of war, prevents protracted frontier devastation, and secures quicker consolidation—thereby protecting the conqueror’s own treasury, army pay, and internal order.
The passage implies lethal danda against targeted enemy officials (assassination: ghātayet; killing: hanyuḥ) and destructive sanctions (arson: daheyus) against strategic sites and stockpiles; for one’s own agents, failure would fall under general spy-discipline and treason/dereliction norms (not specified here), typically severe up to death or confiscation.