of men, rescuing them from danger, relieving the distressed and the oppressed, all these occur among Kshatriya duties practised by Kings.  Persons that do not regard wholesome restraints and that are governed by lust and wrath, do not commit overt acts of sin from fear of kings.  Others that are docile and of righteous behaviour succeed, in consequence of the same influence, in performing all their duties.  For this reason Kshatriya duties are regarded to be righteous.  Without doubt, all creatures live happily in the world, protected by kings exercising Kshatriya duties like children protected by their parents.  Kshatriya duties are the foremost of all duties.  Those eternal duties, regarded as the first in the world, embrace the protection of every creature.  Themselves eternal, they lead to eternal emancipation.’”

SECTION LXV

“Indra said, ’Kshatriya duties, O king, which are possessed of such energy, which include in their exercise all other duties, and which are the foremost of all duties, should be observed by persons that are, like thee, so high-souled and so employed in seeking the good of the world.  If those duties are not properly discharged, all creatures would be overtaken by ruin.  The kings possessed of compassion for all creatures, should regard these to be the foremost of his duties, reclaiming the land for cultivation and fertilizing it, performance of great sacrifices for cleansing himself, a disregard for begging, and protection of subjects.  Abandonment (gift) is said by the sages to be the foremost of virtues.  Of all kinds of abandonment, again, that of the body in battle, is the foremost.  Thou hast seen with thy eyes how the rulers of the earth, ever observant of Kshatriya duties, having duly waited upon their preceptors and acquired great learning, at last cast off their bodies, engaged in battle with one another.  The Kshatriya, desirous of acquiring religious merit, should, after having gone through the Brahmacharya mode, should lead a life of domesticity which is always meritorious.  In adjudicating upon ordinary questions of right (between his subjects), he should be thoroughly impartial.  For causing all the orders to be observant of their respective duties, for the protection they afford to all, for the diverse contrivances and means and the prowess and exertion (with which they seek the accomplishment of their objects).  Kshatriya duties, which include all other duties within their scope, are said to be the foremost.  The other orders are able to observe their respective duties in consequence of kingly duties.  For this reason the former are said to be dependent upon the latter in respect of the merit they produce.[205] Those men who disregard all wholesome restraints and who are too much attached to the pursuit of worldly objects are said to be of the nature of brutes.  They are compelled to act with justice by the exercise of kingly duties.  Those duties, therefore, are said