This adhyāya teaches how to weaponize rivalries so that diplomacy becomes a mechanism for trapping and eliminating a volatile ally before he becomes a rival. Mandala politics is run as a living Saptāṅga: the Mitra-limb must be strengthened yet controlled. Induce the parasyāmitra into hostility, then use that hostility as leverage and pretext for liquidation. Preferred outcomes are decisive: death by proxy, open/surprise battle, or silent punishment when the costs of publicity are high. Negotiation scenarios are treated as traps—tribute without appearance, coerced departure, partial-territory demands, and pre-attached loyalties each have tailored responses. The end state is risk reduction plus converting the episode into territory and revenue for the Vijigīṣu.
No sutras available for this adhyaya yet.
It prevents a fickle or opportunistic ‘ally-of-convenience’ from maturing into a strategic threat, stabilizes the alliance perimeter, and converts conflict into controllable gains (land, gold, or even a negotiated state-exchange), thereby reducing long-run war-costs and internal insecurity.
The text does not assign a domestic legal penalty here; the ‘penalty’ is strategic: failure to neutralize the induced/entrapped king invites future betrayal, loss of leverage, and escalated war. Operationally, daṇḍa manifests as capture (jīvagrāha), liquidation via proxy/enemy, or dual-pressure coercion (ubhayataḥ-sampīḍana).