Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 27, Shloka 18
Adhyaya 27 — Madalasa's Teaching III
कीटकस्य क्रियां कुर्यात् विपक्षे मनुजेश्वरः ।
चेष्टां पिपीलिकानाञ्च काले भूपः प्रदर्शयेत् ॥
kīṭakasya kriyāṃ kuryāt vipakṣe manujeśvaraḥ | ceṣṭāṃ pipīlikānāñ ca kāle bhūpaḥ pradarśayet ||
Against an adversary, the lord of men should employ the methods of even a small insect; and at the proper time, the king should display the purposeful activity of ants.
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FAQs
No tactic is ‘too small’ for statecraft: minute, persistent, well-timed actions can overcome stronger opponents. The stress on kāla highlights that virtue and strategy must be applied with discernment, not impulsively.
Normative instruction (dharma/nīti), ancillary to the Purāṇic fivefold.
The ‘insect’ and ‘ant’ symbolize subtlety and collective persistence—an inner teaching that small, repeated disciplines (saṃskāras) reshape destiny when applied at the right psychological moment (kāla).