Sutra 40

Devanagari script

ततः परेषु कृच्छ्रेणार्थनिश्चयो गम्यते मन्त्रो वा रक्ष्यते ॥ कZ_०१.१५.४० ॥

Transliteration

tataḥ pareṣu kṛcchreṇārthaniścayo gamyate mantro vā rakṣyate

Translation

Vì vậy, khi có người khác tham gia (tức thêm người), hoặc là việc đi đến một quyết định chắc chắn về mục tiêu trở nên khó khăn, hoặc là chính lời bàn mưu cũng (chỉ) được giữ kín một cách khó khăn.

Word by Word

• ततः: thereupon; thereafter; from that (point)
• Type: Pronoun (Adverbial)
• Root: तद्
• Form: ablative singular (तस्मात्) used adverbially = 'thereupon/thereafter'

• परेषु: in/among others; in the case of opponents
• Type: Adjective (used substantively)
• Root: पर
• Form: locative plural, masculine/neuter; 'in/among others (i.e., opponents/others)'

• कृच्छ्रेण: with difficulty; only with effort
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृच्छ्र
• Form: instrumental singular, neuter; adverbial use

• अर्थनिश्चयः: ascertainment/decision regarding the matter (purpose/interest)
• Type: Noun (compound)
• Root: अर्थ + निश्चय
• Form: nominative singular, masculine; subject of गम्यते

• गम्यते: is understood; is ascertained; is arrived at
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम्
• Form: present tense, passive, 3rd person singular (लट्, कर्मणि)

• मन्त्रः: counsel; secret deliberation/plan
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्त्र
• Form: nominative singular, masculine; coordinated alternative subject with अर्थनिश्चयः via वा

• वा: or
• Type: Particle
• Root: वा
• Form: disjunctive particle 'or'

• रक्ष्यते: is protected; is guarded (kept secret)
• Type: Verb
• Root: रक्ष्
• Form: present tense, passive, 3rd person singular (लट्, कर्मणि)

Entities Mentioned

• king
• ministers/advisers (implied)

More Details

FAQs

What tradeoff does Kautilya highlight here?

With more participants, either decision clarity suffers (harder to converge) or secrecy suffers (harder to protect the plan).