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THE SEVEN WAYS TO APPROACH A NEIGIIBOR
looking, taking no notice, taking no account of, neglecting, ignoring." England's attitude when Japan seized Manchuria, Mussolini Ethiopia, and Ilirler Austria was that of upckşā: pretending to be unconcerned because one cannot make up one's mind to become involved in the affair.
7. Indrajāla, “the net (jāla) of Indra," means "conjuring. jugglery, magic trick; stratagem or trick in war.” This denotes the creation of an appearance of things that do not exist; for example, the building of a line of fortifications made only of dummies, or the simulation of an attack, say, on the British Isles, while actually an invasion of Russia is being prepared. Indrajāla involves the spreading of false information and creation of false belief, and might be said to be a special form of application of the principle of māyā to the techniques of war.
These, then, are the seven ways to approach a neighbor in this unsentimental ocean of the fish. I wonder whether we have textbooks of politics in the West that cover the subject with more simplicity and clarity.
We may conclude this introduction to the ancient Indian handbooks of success by glancing at a few typical maxims. The following are taken from the Mahābhūrata, Book XII.
"Both kinds of wisdom, straight and crooked, should be within call of the king." 27
27 Mahabharata 12. 100. 5.
Throughout most of the Mahabharata the teaching is of the "straight" wisdom. Only when hard pressed by the unrelenting questions of the noble Yudhisthira was the great guru of warriors, Bhisma, brought to reveal the dark secrets of the "crooked" way.
"Yudhisthira said: 'What course of conduct should be adopted by a king shorn of friends, having many cnemies, possessed of an exhausted treasury, and destitute of troops, when he is surrounded by wicked ministers, when his counsels are all divulged, and when he does not see his way clearly before him ...?"
"Bhisma said: 'Conversant as thou art with duties, thou hast, o bull of Bharata's race, asked me a question that touches on a mystery. Without
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| SR No. | 007309 |
| Book Title | Philosophies of India |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Heinrich Zimmer, Joseph Campbell |
| Publisher | Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd |
| Publication Year | 1953 |
| Total Pages | 709 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 34 MB |