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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00093 Sep 2003

 
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Post 9

Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

Continuing the topic of "good governance- raamaa's style", we saw in post 8, 
the king must have a good spy network to have proper "information management 
system". In this post we will see "financial management" points as available / 
covered / mentioned in srimadh raamaayaNam. 

See the first point - income for the kingdom and its expenditure. 

aayasthE vipula: kachchith kachchidh alpa tharO vyaya: |
apaathrEshu na thE kachchith kOsO gachchhathi raaghava: || 2- 100 - 47

raaghava: = oh bharathaa, who has come in the raghu clan
kachchith thE aaya: vipula: = is your income sufficient
kachchidh vyaya: alpa thara: = is your expenditure less
kachchith apaathrEshu = to the undeserving
thE kOsa: na gachchhathi = your treasury is not going

meaning: dear bharathaa, is your income sufficient and less than your 
expenditure. Are you ensuring the money from treasury is not going to the 
undeserving.

Point: Dear bhakthaas, see here the important point. For any government, there 
should be adequate income by way of levy of taxes etc. Similarly the 
expenditure also to be less than the income. This means some reserves must 
becreated, so that these funds are used for development works and long term 
capital expenses. Another important point is that the money should not be spent 
in unproductive and on undeserving wasteful expenditure [may be peopleor item 
of expenditure]. This also clearly indicates the budget has to be a surplus 
budget and not a deficit one, as nowadays we are seeing. May be, deficit 
financing is one of the ills of present day financial management.

A surplus budget does not mean people are to be squeezed beyond limits, with 
high levels of taxes. See here how the king dhasaratha's ministers did. 

kOsa sangrahaNE yukthaa balasya cha parigrahE |
ahitam cha api purusham na himsyur avidhooshakam || 1-7-11

kOsha sangrahaNE yukthaa = dutiful in collections to the treasury
balasya cha parigrahe = in militarising of armies also 
a hitam cha api purusham = unfriendly even to one person  
na himsyu: = not tortured 
a vi dhooshakam = not verily blameworthy.

Meaning: The ministers and the adminstrators of king dhasaratha, in collections 
to their treasury and or to militarise their armies, are dutiful. Evenan 
unfriendly person will not be tortured, if he were not verily blameworthy. 

brahma kshathram ahimsantha: thE kOsam samapoorayan |
sutheekshNa dhaNdaa: samprEkshya purushasya balaabalam || 1-7-13

brahma kshathram = brahmans, kshathriya-s; 
a himsanta: thE = not persecute they 
kOsam samapoorayan = to fill up treasury
sutheekshNa dhanDaa: = high degree punishments 
samprEkshya = after assessing 
purushasya = person's
bala abalam = strength weakness.

Meaning: They do not persecute brahmin-s and kshatriya-s to fill-up the 
treasury. Similarly high degree punishments are given after assessing different 
person's, [the offender's,] strengths and weaknesses. 

Point: The ministers assess the country's overall strength financially, 
manpowerwise in army etc, and then accordingly levy the taxes. Same is the case 
while ordering punishments. 

Another point is the brahmins and kshathriyaas are the cream of people. 
Thevysyaas the commerce people will any how pay the taxes at the source. So 
other two are to be persuaded to pay the taxes. The fourth class is any how 
servants and their masters only have to pay taxes. That is why the specific 
point of brahmins and kshathriyaas are mentioned here.

See the next point - expenditure also has to be timely. The king and his 
ministers must ensure the timely dispensing of salary perks and other reliefs. 
That is understood by the question posed by raamaa to brother bharathaa.

kachchidh balasya bhaktham cha vEthanam cha yathaa uchitham | 
sampraaptha kaalam dhaathavyam dhadhaasi na vilambasE || 2- 100 - 32

kachchidh balasya = to the army of employees
bhaktham cha = the requisite perks of people [meaning employees] 
vEthanam cha = and the salary 
yathaa uchitham = when it is fit 
sampraaptha kaalam dhaathavyam = must reach in time
vilambasE na dhadhaasi = you are not to delay the payment 

meaning: to the employees of the kingdom and defence forces, the salary 
andperks must be disbursed by the king and ministers in proper time at regular 
intervals. This disbursement is not to belayed.

kaalaathikramaNE hi Eva bhaktha vEthanayOr bhruthaa: | 
bharthu: api kupyanthi sa: anartha: sumahaan krutha: || 2- 100 - 33

kaala athikramaNE hi = if delayed in time
Eva bhaktha = these people  
vEthanayOr bhruthaa: = sustains by slaries
bharthu: api = even if husband or closely related
kupyanthi sa: = he becomes angry
anartha: = trouble
sumahaan krutha: = great is done

meaning: if these peole do not get their wages in time they get angry with the 
king and that causes great damage to the sovereign.

Point: the salary and perks are to be disbursed in regular intervals. Not only 
the timeliness, that salry & perks have to be quantity wise sufficient to keep 
these people happy. That is what stressed here. Also stressed is when the times 
are bad for certain section of people king has to give tax exemptions or tax 
holidays [as modern day financial and taxation experts call it]. See here, 
giving tax reliefs and providing doles to the deserving is also part of king's 
duty. 

Doles - means - as said earlier - the money should not go to undeserving. Just 
compare the present day conditions. See here raamaa asks bharathaa are you 
doing it?

thEshaam gupthi pareehaarai: kachchith thE bharaNam krutham | 
rakshyaa hi raajnyaa dharmENa sarvE vishayavaasina:|| 2-100-48

thEshaam = all people 
kachchith gupthi pareehaarai: = giving tax exemptions and monetary reliefs
thE bharaNam krutham = have to be protected
rakshyaa hi raajnyaa = safety and governance
dharmENa =with dharma as the basic
sarvE vishayavaasina: = all people

meaning: hey bharathaa, all people in the kingdom deserve protection in 
theright way from the king by good governance. To facilitate that are you 
giving tax exemptions and monetary reliefs when it is needed by people. 

Point: As a result of such policies see what was the situation in the country 
on the financial front.

na akuNdalee na amukutee na asragvee na alpa bhOgavaan |
na amrushtO na alipthaangO na asugandha: cha vidhyathE || 1-6-10

na akundalee = without earrings 
na amukutee = without headgear 
na asragvee = without garlands 
na alpa bhOgavaan = no lowly enjoyer 
na amrushta: = none without oil-baths 
na a liptha anga: = none not cream-coated body 
na a sungandha: cha = none un-perfumed also 
vidhyathE = verifiable.

Meaning: Without his [golden] earrings, his headgear, or his garlands, there is 
none in ayOdhyaa. There is no lowly enjoyer and none without 
[regular]oil-baths, or un-creamed [with sandalwood paste or with other body 
creams,] or without an un-perfumed body, is verifiable in that city. 

Point: Ear rings are the indicators of scholarship, and there are grades 
intheir make and design, on par with the education one receives. The headgears 
present their social status, while other decorations are to exhibit their 
lavishness.

kashchin narO vaa naaree vaa na asreemaan na api aroopavaan |
dhrashtum sakyam ayOdhyaayaam na api raajanya abhakthimaan || 1-6-16

kaschin = whoever 
nara: vaa naaree vaa = gentleman or lady 
na asreemaan = none without wealth 
na api = not even 
aroopavaan = without elegance 
dhrashtum = to see 
asakyam = not possible 
ayOdhyayaam = in ayOdhya 
na api = not even 
raajanya abhakthimaan = to the king not devout

Meaning: Whoever it may be, either a gentleman or a lady, none was without 
wealth. None was without elegance or devotion to their king. It is impossible 
to see such persons in ayOdhya.

Such is the financial management. In next post we will see the timeliness of 
actions by the king.

Dhasan

Vasudevan m.g.






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