Carl Clausewitz - The Strategy of Warfare – Boxed Set

A friend who, following the policy of making peace with one and marching against another, has contracted friendship with one, who is going to march either singly or in combination with others against an ally;

A friend who is not relieved from his troubles owing to fear, contempt, or indifference; a friend who is surrounded in his own place or who has run away owing to fear;

A friend who is displeased owing to his having to pay much, or owing to his not having received his due or owing to his dissatisfaction even after the receipt of his due;

A friend who has voluntarily paid much or who is made by another to pay much (to his ally); a friend who is kept under pressure, or who, having broken the bond of friendship, sought friendship with another;

A friend who is neglected owing to inability to retain his friendship; and a friend who has become an enemy in spite of his ally's entreaties to the contrary;--such friends are hardly acquired; and if acquired at all, they turn away.

A friend who has realised the responsibilities of friendship, or who is honourable; or whose disappointment is due to want of information, or who, though excited, is unequal (to the task), or who is made to turn back owing to fear from another;

Or who is frightened at the destruction of another friend, or who is apprehensive of danger from the combination of enemies, or who is made by traitors to give up his friendship,--it is possible to acquire such a friend; and if acquired, he keeps up his friendship.

Hence one should not give rise to those causes which are destructive of friendship; and when they arise, one should get rid of them by adopting such friendly attitude as can remove those causes.

[Thus ends Chapter V, "The Group of Troubles of the Army, and the Group of Troubles of a Friend," in Book VIII "Concerning Vices and Calamities," of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the hundred and twenty-first chapter from the beginning. With this ends the eighth Book "Concerning Vices and Calamities" of the Arthasástra of Kautilya.]

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

THE conqueror should know the comparative strength and weakness of himself and of his enemy; and having ascertained the power, place, time, the time of marching and of recruiting the army, the consequences, the loss of men and money, and profits and danger, he should march with his full force; otherwise, he should keep quiet.

My teacher says that of enthusiasm and power, enthusiasm is better: a king, himself energetic, brave, strong, free from disease, skilful in wielding weapons, is able with his army as a secondary power to subdue a powerful king; his army, though small, will, when led by him, be, capable of turning out any work. But a king who has no enthusiasm in himself, will perish though possessed of a strong army.

No, says Kautilya, he who is possessed of power overreaches, by the sheer force of his power, another who is merely enthusiastic. Having acquired, captured, or bought another enthusiastic king as well as brave soldiers, he can make his enthusiastic army of horses, elephants, chariots, and others to move anywhere without obstruction. Powerful kings, whether women, young men, lame or blind, conquered the earth by winning over or purchasing the aid of enthusiastic persons.

My teacher says that of power (money and army) and skill in intrigue, power is better; for a king, though possessed of skill for intrigue (mantrasakti) becomes a man of barren mind if he has no power; for the work of intrigue is well defined. He who has no power loses his kingdom as sprouts of seeds in drought vomit their sap.

No, says Kautilya, skill for intrigue is better; he who has the eye of knowledge and is acquainted with the science of polity can with little effort make use of his skill for intrigue and can succeed by means of conciliation and other strategic means and by spies and chemical appliances in over-reaching even those kings who are possessed of enthusiasm and power. Thus of the three acquirements, viz., enthusiasm, power and skill for intrigue, he who posesses more of the quality mentioned later than the one mentioned first in the order of enumeration will be successful in over- reaching others.

Country (space) means the earth; in it the thousand yojanas of the northern portion of the country that stretches between the Himalayas and the ocean form the dominion of no insignificant emperor; in it there are such varieties of land, as forests, villages, waterfalls, level plains, and uneven grounds. In such lands, he should undertake such works as he considers to be conducive to his power and prosperity. That part of the country, in which his army finds a convenient place for its manœuvre and which proves unfavourable to his enemy, is the best; that part of the country which is of the reverse nature, is the worst; and that which partakes of both the characteristics, is a country of middling quality.

Time consists of cold, hot, and rainy periods. The divisions of time are: the night, the day, the fortnight, the month, the season, solstices, the year, and the Yuga (cycle of five years). In these divisions of time he should undertake such works as are conducive to the growth of his power and prosperity. That time which is congenial for the manœuvre of his Army, but which is of the reverse nature for his enemy is the best; that which is of the reverse nature is the worst; and that which possesses both the characteristics is of middling quality.

My teacher says that of strength, place, and time, strength is the best; for a man who is possessed of strength can overcome the difficulties due either to the unevenness of the ground or to the cold, hot, or rainy periods of time. Some say that place is the best for the reason that a dog, seated in a convenient place, can drag a crocodile and that a crocodile in low ground can drag a dog.

Others say that time is the best for the reason that during the day-time the crow kills the owl, and that at night the owl the crow.

No, says Kautilya, of strength, place, and time, each is helpful to the other; whoever is possessed of these three things should, after having placed one-third or one fourth of his army to protect his base of operations against his rear-enemy and wild tribes in his vicinity and after having taken with him as much army and treasure as is sufficient to accomplish his work, march during the month of Márgásírsha (December) against his enemy whose collection of food-stuffs is old and insipid and who has not only not gathered fresh food-stuffs, but also not repaired his fortifications, in order to destroy the enemy's rainy crops and autumnal handfuls (mushti). He should march during the month of Chaitra (March), if he means to destroy the enemy's autumnal crops and vernal handfuls. He should march during the month of Jyestha (May-June) against one whose storage of fodder, firewood and water has diminished and who has not repaired his fortifications, if he means to destroy the enemy's vernal crops and handfuls of the rainy season. Or he may march during the dewy season against a country which is of hot climate and in which fodder and water are obtained in little quantities. Or he may march during the summer against a country in which the sun is enshrouded by mist and which is full of deep valleys and thickets of trees and grass, or he may march during the rains against a country which is suitable for the manœuvre of his own army and which is of the reverse nature for his enemy's army. He has to undertake a long march between the months of Márgasírsha (December) and Taisha (January), a march of mean length between March and April, and a short march between May and June; and one, afflicted with troubles, should keep quiet.