Avijñātaiḥ (“unknown”) indicates that these spies shouldn’t know each other and that they shouldn’t be known by others too. If they were known, their encrypted communications will [be exposed and hence] spoiled.

[Tīrtha refers to members of certain categories of royal officials.] For each tīrtha [of an opponent’s kingdom], there should be three spies, with each spy in a different profile. “Do You know about the spies?” indicates that Bharata should be [regularly] checking if they are functioning properly or improperly.¹

The eighteen tīrthas have been enlisted in Artha-śāstra as follows: (1) minister, (2) priest, (3) crown prince, (4) commander-in-chief, (5) chief security director, (6) superintendent of the inner quarters, (7) superintendent of prisons, (8) treasurer, (9) director of external communications, (10) magistrate, (11) quartermaster general,  (12) city superintendent, (13) contractual payment officer, (14) court superintendent, (15) judge, (16) justice enforcement director, (17) security director for inaccessible areas and  (18) border security director.²

The fifteen tīrthas [in one’s own kingdom] refer to the above without the first three.

Minister, priest, crown prince and commander-in-chief are well known.

Chief security director directs the gateway security officers of the inner quarters and so on.

Superintendent of the inner quarters directs works concerning the inner quarters.

Superintendent of prisons is the officer in charge of prisons where criminals are arrested [and detained].

Treasurer supervises the wealth that has been accumulated.

Director of external communications broadcasts royal decrees to the public.

Magistrate pleasantly interrogates and counter-interrogates during [general] legal disputes: vivāde pṛcchati prāśnaṁ pratipraśnaṁ tathaiva ca / priya-pūrvaṁ prāg vadati prādvivākas tataḥ smṛtaḥ.

Quartermaster general provides the army with salaries, water and so on.

City superintendent has the city cleansed at night, has the city’s gates, enclosures and so on guarded and maintained.

Contractual payment officer has the salaries due to contractual laborers other than soldiers collected in one go from the king at  the end of their work and disburses it to them.

Court superintendent directs the people who decorate the court every day, who arrange for appropriate seats for the king, ministers and so on, who allows access to members of the court, who restricts access to others, who has the members appropriately seated, who ensures that the assembly in the court is quiet [when required] and who takes care of and protects the court.

Judge investigates the grounds for litigation pertaining to inheritance and so on, and settles the dispute according to the Dharma-śāstras.

Justice enforcement director directs men who mete out punishments on criminals who have stolen others’ properties and so on by cutting his hands, head and so on on the order of the king.

Security director for inaccessible areas directs those who constantly protect inaccessible areas such as mountains, water bodies and forests.

Border security director directs those who constantly protect borders of the country on all sides from attacks of other kings and so on.

One’s own ministers, priest and crown prince don’t have to be examined because [the king] can himself understand their nature as these three are always [interacting] with him. This is stated in Artha-śāstra ⁷. According to Halāyudha, one of the meanings of the word tīrtha is a man belonging to any of these categories ⁸.