Shloka 6
राष्ट्रगुप्ति-संग्रहः
Protection of the Realm and Principles of Revenue & Local Administration
यानि ग्राम्याणि भोज्यानि ग्रामिकस्तान्युपाश्रियात् । दशपस्तेन भर्तव्यस्तेनापि द्विगुणाधिप:
yāni grāmyāṇi bhojyāni grāmikas tāny upāśriyāt | daśapas tena bhartavyas tenāpi dviguṇādhipaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Whatever consumable revenues and produce arise within a village, the village head should retain and administer them, taking from them his fixed share as remuneration. From that same revenue he should also maintain the overseer of ten villages by paying him an allotted wage; and likewise, the head of ten villages should maintain—through due remuneration—the superintendent of twenty villages.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A graded administrative structure should be funded from local revenues with fixed, regulated remuneration: the village head manages village produce and supports higher officials (ten-village and twenty-village overseers) through stipulated shares, ensuring orderly governance and accountability.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma outlines a practical model of rural administration, describing how village produce/revenue is handled and how successive tiers of officials are maintained through assigned wages.