Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 27, Shloka 23
Adhyaya 27 — Madālasa’s Instruction to King Alarka: Royal Ethics, Self-Conquest, and Statecraft
मासानष्टौ यथा सूर्यस्तोयं हरति रश्मिभिः ।
सूक्ष्मेणैवाभ्युपायेन तथा शुल्कादिकं नृपः ॥
māsān aṣṭau yathā sūryas toyaṃ harati raśmibhiḥ | sūkṣmeṇaivābhyupāyena tathā śulkādikaṃ nṛpaḥ ||
जैसे सूर्य आठ महीनों में अपनी किरणों से जल को खींच लेता है, वैसे ही राजा को कर आदि को सूक्ष्म, क्रमिक उपायों से (कठोरता के बिना) संग्रह करना चाहिए।
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FAQs
Revenue collection should be steady and minimally painful: like evaporation, it is effective precisely because it is gradual and non-violent, preserving the productive capacity of society.
Nīti instruction; not pancalakṣaṇa.
The Sun’s ‘taking’ is lawful and cyclical, returning as rain; likewise taxation is justified only when it re-circulates as protection and public good, not private hoarding.