Sutra 8
यदि वा पश्येत्प्रत्यादेयमादाय कोशदण्डनिचयरक्षाविधानान्यवस्रावयिष्यामि खनिद्रव्यहस्तिवनसेतुबन्धवणिक्पथानुद्धृतसारान् करिष्यामि प्रकृतीरस्य कर्शयिष्यामि अपवाहयिष्यामि आयोगेनाराधयिष्यामि वा ताः परं प्रतियोगेन कोपयिष्यति प्रतिपक्षे वास्य पण्यमेनं करिष्यामि मित्रमपरुद्धं वास्य प्रतिपादयिष्यामि मित्रस्य स्वस्य वा देशस्य पीडामत्रस्थस्तस्करेभ्यः परेभ्यश्च प्रतिकरिष्यामि मित्रमाश्रयं वास्य वैगुण्यं ग्राहयिष्यामि तदमित्रविरक्तं तत्कुलीनं प्रतिपत्स्यते सत्कृत्य वास्मै भूमिं दास्यामि इति संहितसमुत्थितं मित्रं मे चिराय भविष्यति इति प्रत्यादेयमपि लाभमाददीत ॥ कZ_०९.४.०८ ॥
yadi vā paśyet pratyādeyam ādāya kośadaṇḍanicayarakṣāvidhānāny avasrāvayiṣyāmi khanidravyahastivanasetubandhavaṇikpathān uddhṛtasārān kariṣyāmi prakṛtīr asya karśayiṣyāmi apavāhayiṣyāmi āyogenārādhayiṣyāmi vā tāḥ paraṃ pratiyogena kopayiṣyati pratipakṣe vāsya paṇyam enaṃ kariṣyāmi mitram aparuddhaṃ vāsya pratipādayiṣyāmi mitrasya svasya vā deśasya pīḍām atra-sthas taskarebhyaḥ parebhyaś ca pratikariṣyāmi mitram āśrayaṃ vāsya vaiguṇyaṃ grāhayiṣyāmi tad amitraviraktaṃ tatkulīnaṃ pratipatsyate satkṛtya vāsmai bhūmiṃ dāsyāmi iti saṃhitasamutthitaṃ mitraṃ me cirāya bhaviṣyati iti pratyādeyam api lābham ādadīta
Or, if he foresees that by taking even a returnable gain he can: drain the enemy’s treasury, punitive power, stored reserves, and protective arrangements; strip value from mines, material resources, elephant forests, bridge/embankment works, and trade routes; weaken and carry off the enemy’s constituent elements (prakṛtis) or win them over by inducements; thereby provoke the enemy into rash counter-competition; make him a commodity in the hands of his rivals; restore an ally who is under restraint; protect, while present there, his own or an ally’s territory from robbers and foreign enemies; make the enemy’s dependent ally realize his deficiencies so that, estranged from the enemy, he returns to his own lineage-side; and by honoring him even grant land—so that an alliance formed from such circumstances endures for a long time—then he may take even a returnable gain.
FAQs
When it produces decisive strategic effects—bleeding enemy finances and force, degrading key assets and routes, inducing defections, restoring allies, securing territory, and converting temporary advantage into durable alliance.
A mix of sanctions/financial warfare, infrastructure denial, influence operations (elite inducement), coalition management, and stabilization/security provision to reshape political alignments.