उपायकुशलं वैद्यं भृत्यसंदूषणे रतम्।
शूरमैश्वर्यकामं च यो न हन्ति स वध्यते॥
upāya-kuśalaṁ vaidyaṁ bhṛtya-sandūṣaṇe ratam
śūram aiśvarya-kāmaṁ ca yo na hanti sa vadhyate
upāya-kuśalam = who is expert in using the principles of conciliation, compensation, division and force; vaidyam = a learned; bhṛtya-sandūṣaṇe = in destroying confidential servants; ratam = who is busy; śūram = and courageous man; aiśvarya-kāmam = who is ambitious for royal opulence; ca = and; yaḥ = king who; na = does not; hanti = kill; saḥ = the; vadhyate = is destroyed.
The king who does not kill a learned and courageous man, who is expert in using the principles of conciliation, compensation, division and force, who is busy in destroying confidential servants and who is ambitious for royal opulence, is destroyed.
“Learned” here refers to one who is learned in Artha-śāstra as presented by Cāṇakya and others. “Busy in destroying confidential servants” refers to him being busy in removing such servants through false accusations. “Courageous” indicates that he is not afraid of even killing the king. If a king does not kill such a person, he is destroyed by that person, that is, he will lose his kingdom.
Rāmacandra hoped that Bharata did not live in the presence of such a man.