Śatruṃjaya of Suvīra

Śatruṃjaya was a king of Suvīra, a kingdom also called Saubīra. In the Āpaddharma Parva of the Mahābhārata’s Śānti Parva, the ṛṣi Bharadvāja taught him how a king should act in an emergency. The teaching came from Kaṇika. Śatruṃjaya used it and restored the stability of his kingdom.

Who he was

His name means “one who conquers enemies”. He was king of Suvīra, which is also called Saubīra in related texts. He went to Bharadvāja at a time of serious danger to his kingdom.

Bharadvāja’s teaching: Kaṇika’s upadeśa

Bharadvāja gave Śatruṃjaya the teaching on statecraft in an emergency (āpaddharma) that belongs to Kaṇika. The Ādi Parva knows Kaṇika as a skilled teacher of hard political strategy. The teaching covered these points:

• Daṇḍa (force and punishment) as the chief tool in a real crisis.
• The system of spies and the right use of intelligence.
• Kāla (timing) as the heart of decisive action.
• Four pictures from animals for how to act. The baka (heron) stands for patient waiting. The siṃha (lion) stands for full and decisive force. The vṛka (wolf) stands for seizing a chance. The bāṇa (arrow) stands for a commitment that cannot be taken back once it is loosed.

What came of it

Śatruṃjaya listened with full attention and followed the teaching exactly. The Śānti Parva records that he came through the crisis that had made him seek guidance, and brought his kingdom back to stability. It gives him as an example of a king who used the rules of āpaddharma rightly in a real crisis.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Āpaddharma Parva, Chapter 140