19 Niti in Mahabharata

N. Siva Senani

Introduction to Nīti

Nīti is derived from the root Nī, to lead, and etymologically means “that which leads”. V. S.

Apte’s dictionary lists many meanings of Niti: Guidance, direction, management Conduct, manner of conducting oneself, behaviour, course of action Propriety, decorum Policy, prudence, wisdom, right course A plan, contrivance, scheme Politics, political science, statesmanship, political wisdom Righteousness, moral conduct, morality

The science of morality, morals, ethics, moral philosophy

If we were to deduce a common sense from the above, Niti may be said to that code, or prescribed conduct, which leads one to his goals.

The difference between Niti and Dharma is that Niti has self-interest at its core – the objective of Niti is achievement of one’s own goal. Against, that Dharma is that which results in maximum good of the maximum number. Thus, it is easy to visualise situations when Niti and Dharma are in conflict. Mahabharata shows that such a conflict is only apparent and that in reality Niti has to be aligned with Dharma. Deviating from Dharma is not good for one’s own self in the long run. Similarly, when Niti teaches apparently adharmic practices like lying, it can be seen that sometimes they serve the purpose of upholding Dharma better.

Mahabharata uses broadly three pedagogic techniques to teach Niti: formal discourses, stories and various incidents or episodes which indirectly teach Niti. Examples of formal discourses are Kanikaniti from Adiparvan; conversation of Yudhishthira, Bhima and Draupadi from Aranyakaparvan; Viduraniti from Udyogaparvan; Bhishma’s advice from Santi and Anusasanaparvans; and Dhritarashtra’s advice from Asramavasikaparvan. Some of the stories are story of the Fox, Tiger, Rat, Wolf and Mongoose; Story of Kaushika and the Robbers; and the Story of the Cat and the Mouse. Incidents teaching Niti are spread through-out the epic.

All the stories mentioned above and extracts from Kanikaniti and Viduraniti are presented in this module. A couple of incidents are also discussed to show the Niti framework for analysing incidents of Mahabharata.

2. Kanikaniti

Kanika is one of the ministers of Dhritarashtra, who is summoned for advice after the training of the princes (both Pandavas and Kauravas) is over and Dhritarashtra realizes that Pandavas have grown into a formidable unit. As a consequence of Kanika’s advice, Pandavas are sent out on the pretext of a pilgrimage and a plot is hatched to burn them down while in pilgrimage, so that it would seem that it was an accident. Dhritarashtra carefully kept Vidura out of the proceedings. On the surface, Kanika laid out a clear analysis of where Dhritarashtra’s self-interest lies, but ultimately this led to the complete annihilation of the descendants of Dhritarashtra. Kanikaniti is shown as an example of Kunīti, which does not confirm to Dharma. Some of the extracts are given below. It may be noted that the references are to the version of the text with Nilakantha’s commentary.

The king may feign blindness or deafness when required, i.e. when something needs to be corrected or someone needs to be punished and the king does not have capacity to do so (1.140.12)

No mercy should be shown upon the enemy who seeks refuge (1.140.14)

Enemy should be borne on one’s shoulder till the right time; once the time is ripe, the enemy should be destroyed, like a pot flung on stone (1.140.21, 22)

Whether it be son, friend, brother, father or teacher, enemies have to be killed, if one desires riches (1.140.52)

Even if one is angry, anger should never be shown and nobody should be reproached when one is in anger (1.140.55)

There is no possible benefit from it; one should do what one wants to do, no point in revealing it

One ought to speak sweetly even while one is planning to attack a foe and while attacking; and after attacking, one should cry for the foe and grieve for him (1.140.56)

A king does not obtain wealth, like a fisherman, without killing, cutting and shredding the vitals of others (1.140.77)

A seeker of wealth never approaches the wealthy only when he is in need, once the need is fulfilled there is no relation; so the desires of seekers must never be fully satisfied (1.140.79)

Pandavas are stronger than their cousins; therefore, such Niti which will ensure that there is no regret in future, may be resorted to (1.140.92)

Translation: Kill them now, rather than regret in future

From the above it is seen that Kanika is short-sighted, and does not think of the long term consequences. Thus, loses sight of Dharma. This is in contrast with the behaviour of Pandavas. They come to know of the plot to kill them through Vidura, escape it and witness the actual destruction of the guest house they were supposed to sleep in. They realize that they are not safe when Dhritarashtra is intent upon murdering them. Thus they let the world think that they died while they bide their time disguised as Brahmins in Ekacakrapura. They announce themselves only after marrying Draupadi, thus cementing an alliance with a powerful King, Drupada. Even after they grew very strong (to conduct the Rajasuya sacrifice in Indraprastha, they defeated almost all the Kings), they did not seek revenge for the act of Dhritarashtra. They waited for the right time. They also did not revolt in the Sabha when Draupadi was insulted. If Arjuna alone could defeat all Kauravas in the war over stealing of cattle of King Virata, with the other four combined, all the Kauravas could be easily killed in the Sabha where Draupadi was disrobed. Still they did not want their act of killing Kauravas seen as an act of personal revenge. Destruction of Kauravas could be justified only after their Adharma is clearly established – that could be established only when Duryodhana refused to return their Kingdom. Thus Pandavas also achieved their objective, but by ensuring that it is seen as a defence of Dharma, they could ensure their long term success.

3. Viduraniti

After the Pandavas finish their exile and demand their Kingdom back, Dhritarashtra sends Sanjaya as his envoy to Yudhishthira with a cunning spin on the sequence of events. Sanjaya is instructed to praise Yudhishthira, especially his knowledge of Dharma and saintly qualities and then ask Yudhishthira whether he wants his name to be forever smeared with the accusation that he caused a war due to his burning desirefor wealth. When Sanjaya returns from this task, Dhritarashtra is eager to know whether his stratagem succeeded or not, but Sanjaya complains of fatigue and wants to make his report in full assembly the next day. In the intervening night, Dhritarashtra is unable to sleep and summons his minister Vidura to hear to some good counsel.

Yudhishthira sees through the specious logic in Sanjaya’s speech and chides him for such trickery. Ultimately, notwithstanding Vidura’s counsel to Dhritarasthra war does happen. However, unlike Kanika’s counsel which Dhritarashtra implemented, he did not implement Vidura’s counsel and as King chose to overrule it. So, blame for the war cannot be pinned in Vidura’s counsel. Viduraniti is an example of good counsel and is studied as an independent work of Niti as well. Some extracts from the same are given below:

The wise do not desire the unattainable, do not grieve for what is lost and are clear-headed in distress (5.33.23)

A Pandita starts a task only after due thought; once started, he does rest till it is finished; does not waste time; and has control over his own self (5.33.24)

A fool (Mudha) forsakes his own object and runs after the object of others; for the sake of friends, he resorts to deceitful means (5.33.31)

One person commits sins and many enjoy the resulting spoils, but the doer alone bears the demerit (Papa) of the sins, not those who enjoyed the spoils (5.33.42)

Women, dice, hunting, drinking, harsh speech, severity of punishment and misuse of wealth are the seven vices which can destroy even firmly established kings; a king should always avoid them (5.33.91,92)

Marriage, Friendship, Litigation or Discussion is always done only with equals, not unequals (5.33.117)

If one does not wish ignominy for any person, then one ought to speak what is right, be it pleasant or not, dear or not, even if one is not asked to speak (5.34.4)

A bumble bee extracts nectar from a flower without hurting the flower; a king should similarly extract tax from the people without hurting them (5.34.17)

Amongst all intoxications, the intoxication caused by wealth is the most sinful. One who falls due to this intoxication does not realize it without falling (5.34.53)

A man is well-regarded in heaven as long as his auspicious praises are sung on earth (5.35.4)

One should do that during day, which allows him to be happy at night; in the eight months without rains, that which allows to be happy during the rainy season; in one’s life when one is young, that which allows him to be happy in old age; and in one’s entire life, that which allows him to be happy after death (5.35.67,68)

One cannot find the origin of Rishis, rivers, family, great people, or the misconduct of women (5.35.72)

Cloth absorbs the colour of the dye in which it is immersed; similarly when one has companionship with a good man, scoundrel, ascetic or a thief, one begets their qualities (5.36.10)

One has to protect one’s conduct even at great cost; wealth would come and go; even a wealthy man, fallen in conduct is the one who is truly fallen (5.36.30)

One has to do unto the other, what the other has done unto one – that is Dharma. One ought to deceive the deceiver and be good with the good (5.37.7)

One ought to give up a man for the sake of family, family for the sake of village, village for the sake of country, and the entire earth for one’s own sake (5.37.17)

The king whose thoughts are not known to any insiders or outsiders, and who has spies everywhere, such a king shall be prosperous for long (5.38.15)

One who has not studied the Vedas is not eligible to be fed in rites to manes; similarly, one not well-versed in Ṣāḍguṇyam is not eligible to hear strategic discussions (5.38.24)

Even one as intelligent as Brihaspati cannot grasp the meaning of Dharma without studying the Vedas and without serving elders (5.39.40)

One who seeks comforts cannot have knowledge and the one who seeks knowledge cannot have comforts; one of the two has to be given up (5.40.6)

I shall now tell you the ultimate, most special and auspicious principle: do not give up Dharma due to desire, fear or even death (5.40.12)

From the above it is seen that Vidura’s code could run foul of some notions of chivalry (ex.: deceive the deceiver), but is meant to uphold Dharma. In fact we see in Viduraniti that Niti and Dharma are not opposed to each other. In other words, one ought to follow Dharma out of selfishness – as it serves one well in the long term.

4. Niti Stories of Mahabharata

We examine three stories to understand how Mahabharata deals with Niti and Dharma. The first one is the Story of the Fox, Tiger, Rat, Wolf and Mongoose narrated by Kanika to Dhritarashtra, in the incident related earlier in the module.

Five animals – a fox, tiger, rat, wolf and mongoose – work together and kill a deer. Since the deer is very fast, it is agreed that the Rat will first bite the sleeping deer’s leg, which will injure the deer and slow it down, allowing the Tiger to kill it. Once the plan is successfully implemented, the Fox, with a plan to eat the deer all by itself, advises others to do wash themselves before eating.

The Tiger is the first one to return. Upon seeing the Tiger, the Fox says: “O Tiger, great people don’t depend on others; Rat is claiming that the deer was killed because of him; do you want to be indebted to the Rat?” When put in such a way, the Proud Tiger does not want to be seen as being dependant on the lowly Rat and walks away.

The next to come back from the lake is the Rat. The Fox speaks thus to the Rat: “Mongoose has concluded that the Tiger’s poison has spread in this deer’s carcass and so wants to avoid eating the deer, but wants to eat you” Upon hearing this, the timid Rat runs away without nibbling at the deer.

When the Wolf comes back after cleaning, the Fox says: “the Tiger is very angry with you; he just went to bring the Tigress. If I were you, I would run away”. The gullible Wolf believes the Fox and runs away.

Finally when the Mongoose shows up, the Fox boasts: “I scared the Tiger, Wolf and Rat with my might; now if you want to eat this deer, first fight me.” The scared Mongoose avoids the fight and goes away.

This is how a King should defeat his enemies without any actual fighting, advices Kanika, by playing on the weaknesses of the enemy.

On the 16th day of the war, after the fighting is over, Krishna narrates the story of Kausika and the robbers to Arjuna. Kausika was a person who was not well versed in Veda or Sastras, but takes a vow to speak only the truth and goes to a secluded place in forest to perform austerities.

While Kausika is doing his austerities in a forest, a group of travellers being chased by robbers pass that way. When they ask Kausika for a place to hide, Kausika points them in the appropriate direction. After a short while, the robbers chasing those travellers come and ask “in the name of truth”, the direction in which the travellers went. Since Kausika is committed to speak only the truth, he tells the whereabouts of the travellers. As a consequence, the Robbers discover where the travellers are cause harm to them. For this sin, Kausika goes to hell.

Here we see that poor Kausika took upon to speak only the truth, which is sanctioned by all Sastras and is undoubtedly one of the most important principles of Dharma. He discharges his vow with great diligence and yet ends up going to hell. The reason is that he has caused much harm to the travellers, due to his acts of commission. Thus we see that rather than individual virtues (speaking only the truth etc.), one should consider the overall consequences, before one acts.

Another story is that of the mouse (Palita) and the cat (Lomasa), narrated by Bhishma to Yudhishthira. At the foot of a large banian tree there lived a wise mouse called Palita, and upon its branches lived a cat called Lomasa. Once the cat gets trapped in a net spread out by a hunter. Seeing the cat trapped, the mouse starts roaming freely and eyes the meat that was kept as a lure by the hunter. The mouse gets upon the trap and starts eating the flesh. While he is so engaged, he does not see two dangers: a mongoose waiting at the foot of the tree and an owl on a branch of the tree, both of which look for a chance to devour the mouse. The mouse is now surrounded by danger and has to think of a way out. Since the mouse knew Nitisastra very well, he was aware that he has to take the help of one of the enemies to escape from danger. Since the cat was in danger himself, the mouse approaches the cat and strikes a deal: that the mouse will save the cat by freeing him from the trap and in return the cat will protect the mouse from the mongoose and the owl. Once the deal is struck, the mouse convinces the cat that the only safe place for him was beneath the cat. Once the mouse is safely ensconced under the cat, the owl and mongoose lose hope and go away. Then the mouse starts breaking the chords that have entangled the cat, but works slowly through-out the night waiting for the appropriate moment. Once the hunter comes in sight, the mouse release the cat from the last tangle; upon seeing the hunter the cat is scared and rushes away without thinking about the now exposed mouse. In the melee the mouse also dashes into this hole. Once the hunter goes away, the cat very impressed with the mouse’s wisdom seeks to befriend the mouse, but the mouse firmly refuses and delivers a long discourse on how there are no true friends or foes and how everything depends on the circumstances. The mouse’s calculation is simple: even if the cat were genuine at this moment, his thinking might change in future – it is the best interest of mouse not to ever expose himself to the cat.

Here Niti is not related to Dharma. It is about using one’s intelligence to get out of danger, even if one is required to work with a foe to achieve the objective. At the same time, one should not be foolish to think that such a foe can be befriended just because in one situation, he acted like a friend.

These stories bring out the difference between Niti and Dharma, their relationship and the lack of relationship in some situations.

5. Analysis of Incidents in Mahabharata in the Niti Framework

In analysing the incidents of Mahabharata, we first choose two themes, each of which is seen in multiple incidents. The first one is the stance of many women who agree to marriage only if the son begotten by them is promised to be crowned as King. We see that Sakuntala and Satyavati (grandmother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu) when approached by Dushyanta and Santanu (Bhishma’s father) effectively say: “I will marry you if you promise to crown my son as King”. In these incidents, we see that they are determined to work towards their desire, setting aside notions of lady-like behaviour. This is sound Niti with no conflict with Dharma. It is significant that the line of Kurus was furthered by such strong-willed women.

Another theme is that while killing great enemy warriors, Pandavas resort to means sans chivalry. This is seen in the killing of Bhishma (whom Arjuna kills by staying behind Sikhandi, whom Bhishma refuses to fight as Sikhandi was born a woman), Drona (killed by Dhrishtadyumna, the commander of the armies of Pandavas, after Pandavas trick Drona into believing that his son Asvatthama is dead, upon which Drona gives up his arms – this is the only instance Yudhishthira utters a lie) and Karna (whose impregnable armour is taken away by Indra playing upon Karna’s vanity of not refusing those seek alms; whose special weapon given by Indra in return for the armour is forced to be used on Ghatotkacha; and who is struck by arrows when he is engaged in releasing his wheel and not in a position to fight back). There are other incidents of a similar nature. In these, clearly Dharma is violated. Yet it is a case where the end – victory of Dharma – justified the means. In other words, for the greatest good of the maximum people, some violations are necessary.

There is another specific incident where Sri Krishna himself states this clearly. On the 16th night of the war, Yudhishthira retreats badly beaten by Karna. When Arjuna makes enquiries Yudhishthira condemns Arjuna and his Gandiva. Arjuna has taken a vow to kill anybody who disrespects his Gandiva. So, now he has to either kill Yudhishthira or break his vow. When Krishna dissuades him out of killing Yudhishthira, Arjuna gets ready to kill himself. Krishna resolves this by asking Arjuna to praise himself (which is as good as suicide) and censure Yudhishthira (which is as good as killing an elder) so that Arjuna’s vows are satisfied. In fact it is during this episode that Krishna narrates the story of Kausika and the Robbers and emphatically states that what counts is that overall result and not the means used at every instance. This also shows the focus of Niti and Dharma on the end result – with work arounds being used where required.

Summary

Thus we see that Niti is the means to achieve one’s own goals. When Niti is opposed to Dharma, it results in disaster; therefore, Niti has to be aligned with Dharma – only then is the objective achieved. This is demonstrated in Mahabharata through various means: Formal discourses, Stories and Actions of major players. In fact, by teaching Niti, Mahabharata shows that one should follow Dharma for selfish reasons.