Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 27, 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
Gaya ng karuwahe at mga katulad nito na napapahamak sa walong paraan kapag may sira ang gulong, gayon din ang hari ay tiyak (walang alinlangan) na mapapahamak kapag ang payo at mga lihim ng estado ay tumagas sa labas.
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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.