श्रेय: प्रजापालनमेव राज्ञो यत्साम्पराये सुकृतात् षष्ठमंशम् । हर्तान्यथा हृतपुण्य: प्रजाना- मरक्षिता करहारोऽघमत्ति ॥ १४ ॥
sreyah praja-palanam eva rajno yat samparaye sukrtat sastham amsam hartanyatha hrta-punyah prajanam araksita kara-haro ’gham atti
- sreyah
- auspicious
- praja-palanam
- ruling over the general mass of people
- eva
- certainly
- rajnah
- for the king
- yat
- because
- samparaye
- in the next birth
- su-krtat
- from the pious activities
- sastham amsam
- one-sixth part
- harta
- collector
- anyatha
- otherwise
- hrta-punyah
- being bereft of the results of pious activities
- prajanam
- of the citizens
- araksita
- one who does not protect
- kara-harah
- tax collector
- agham
- sin
- atti
- receives or suffers
To give protection to the general mass of people who are citizens of the state is the prescribed occupational duty for a king. By acting in that way, the king in his next life shares one sixth of the result of the pious activities of the citizens. But a king or executive head of state who simply collects taxes from the citizens but does not give them proper protection as human beings has the results of his own pious activities taken away by the citizens, and in exchange for his not giving protection he becomes liable to punishment for the impious activities of his subjects.