Shloka 6
Adhyaya 27 — Madālasa’s Instruction to King Alarka: Royal Ethics, Self-Conquest, and Statecraft
अष्टधा नाशमाप्नोति सुचक्रात् स्यन्दनाद्यथा ।
तथा राजाप्यसंदिग्धं बहिर्मन्त्रविनिर्गमात् ॥
aṣṭadhā nāśamāpnoti sucakrāt syandanādyathā /
tathā rājāpy asandigdhaṃ bahirmantravinirgamāt
यथा रथादयः चक्रदोषेणाष्टधा विनश्यन्ति, तथा मन्त्रस्य बहिर्गमने नृपोऽपि निःसन्देहं विनश्यति।
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FAQs
Rulership depends on disciplined speech and guarded counsel; a king’s downfall can be triggered not only by enemies but by internal indiscretion—statecraft is a moral discipline of restraint (saṃyama) as much as it is strategy.
This belongs to dharma/nīti instruction rather than the Purāṇic fivefold markers (sarga, pratisarga, vaṃśa, manvantara, vaṃśānucarita). It is an ancillary didactic passage on rājadharma.
‘Mantra’ also suggests inner resolve/strategy; when the inner ‘counsel’ is scattered outward through uncontrolled senses and speech, the sovereign self (rājā) collapses—paralleling yogic emphasis on guarding vāṇī and indriyas.