द्वितीय राजतरङ्गिणी (जोनराज - कल्हणोत्तर मध्यकालीन कश्मीर का प्रामाणिक इतिहास)

50 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
The prince did not know that kings are guided
by other men as elephants are guided by their ears.
He read the letter and descended along the road to
Kashmira. He was, as it were, forbidden to enter that
country by the clouds which gathered before him, and
thundered. He shed a lustre on the road to Kashmíra
as he entered it, but the instigations of the wicked
poisoned the ears of the king. Wicked ministers are
to the world what the fire is to the forest. Some of
them in their ambition to rise, agitate the mind of the
king, as crocodiles agitate the sea. Some, in their
pride, shake the king as the wind shakes the tops of
plants. When prince Hassana had entered Kashmira,
the wicked thus said to king Kumbhadina:—"The wisdom
of the king is superior to that of others, the ministers
may, nevertheless, be permitted to speak to enable him
to decide what is beneficial and what is harmful. Even
sovereigns, who comprised in them a portion of Indra
and of the rulers of the four directions of the sky and
the four corners of the universe, were injured by the
members of their own family. A brother is like a black
serpent which is known to live on air and whose course
is tortuous; such a brother's touch is destruction. Who
can then be safe from danger? The prince will not
be satisfied with wealth or submit to you; the fire does
not become cool by coming in contact with cold ob-
jects. Do not think that he being alone can do no
harm to thee who art a king. What is the king of