Rulers and leadership

you are to appoint over yourselves the king whom the LORD your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not one of your brothers.

You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

He chose the best land for himself, because a ruler’s portion was reserved for him there. He came with the leaders of the people; he administered the LORD’s justice and His ordinances for Israel.”

By me kings reign, and rulers enact just laws; By me princes rule, and all nobles who govern justly.

Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.

For there was a command from the king concerning the singers, an ordinance regulating their daily activities.

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God. Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.

These kings have one purpose: to yield their power and authority to the beast.

Then a certain ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Rather, a suitable analogy is where the king of this governor is above his own governor, and the king of that governor is above his own governor. So too, each secondary mark is subordinate only to its primary mark.

He sent him in response: With regard to this, even Rabbi Meir concedes that the bill of divorce is valid. What is the reason? The governor is an official from that kingdom, so the ruler of the kingdom does not mind.

The baraita elaborates: The defining characteristic of a judge is not like the defining characteristic of a king, as with regard to a judge, you are commanded with regard to obeying his halakhic ruling. This is not like the defining characteristic of a king, with regard to whose halakhic ruling you are not commanded to obey. And the defining characteristic of a king is not like the defining characteristic of a judge, as with regard to the king, you are commanded with regard to rebelling against him, i.e., refusing to obey his order. This is not like the defining characteristic of a judge, as you are not commanded with regard to rebelling against him.

Firmly established in the favour of a Mighty King

And those who govern the event

Mighty, established in the presence of the Lord of the Throne

Narrated ʿAbdur-Rahman bin Samura: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "O ʿAbdur-Rahman! Do not seek to be a ruler, for if you are given authority on your demand then you will be held responsible for it, but if you are given it without asking (for it), then you will be helped (by Allah) in it. If you ever take an oath to do something and later on you find that something else is better, then you should expiate your oath and do what is better Narrated ʿAbdur-Rahman bin Samura: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "O ʿAbdur-Rahman bin Samura! Do not seek to be a ruler, for if you are given authority on your demand, you will be held responsible for it, but if you are given it without asking for it, then you will be helped (by Allah) in it. If you ever take an oath to do something and later on you find that something else is better, then do what is better and make expiation for your oath

Narrated ʿAbdur-Rahman bin Samura: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "O ʿAbdur-Rahman bin Samura! Do not seek to be a ruler, because if you are given authority for it, then you will be held responsible for it, but if you are given it without asking for it, then you will be helped in it (by Allah): and whenever you take an oath to do something and later you find that something else is better than the first, then do the better one and make expiation for your oath

Narrated ʿAbdur-Rahman bin Samura: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "(O ʿAbdur-Rahman!) Do not seek to be a ruler, for, if you are given the authority of ruling without your asking for it, then Allah will help you; but if you are given it by your asking, then you will be held responsible for it (i.e. Allah will not help you ) . And if you take an oath to do something and later on find another thing, better than that, then do what is better and make expiation for (the dissolution of) your oath

It is better to do one's own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never commits a sin. The duty that falls to one's lot of its own accord should not be abandoned, though it may have its defects. All acts are marred by defects, just as fire is obscured by smoke.

King Janaka and others attained perfection through action alone. Even for the sake of enlightening the world, it is your duty to act.

It is better to do one's own duty, however lacking in merit, than to do that of another, even though efficiently. It is better to die doing one's own duty, for doing the duty of another is fraught with danger.

There is one ruler, the Self of all living beings, who makes the one form manifold; the wise who perceive Him seated within their Self, to them belongs eternal bliss, not to others.

Yama said: The good is one thing and the pleasant another. These two, having different ends, bind a man. It is well with him who chooses the good. He who chooses the pleasant misses the true end.

If thou thinkest of any other boon equal to this, ask for wealth and long life; be ruler over the wide earth. O Nachiketas, I shall make thee enjoyer of all desires.

A wise one judges others without haste, justly and impartially; that guardian of the law is said to be just.

Live by principle, with good conduct, don’t conduct yourself badly. For one of good conduct sleeps at ease, in this world and the next.

If one is to do what should be done, one should staunchly strive. For the life gone forth when laxly led just stirs up dust all the more.

“Mendicants, even a wheel-turning monarch, a just and principled king, does not wield power without having their own king.” When he said this, one of the mendicants said to the Buddha: “But who is the king of the wheel-turning monarch, the just and principled king?” “It is principle, monk,” said the Buddha. “Monk, a wheel-turning monarch provides just protection and security for his court, relying only on principle—honoring, respecting, and venerating principle, having principle as his flag, banner, and authority. He provides just protection and security for his aristocrats, vassals, troops, brahmins and householders, people of town and country, ascetics and brahmins, beasts and birds. When he has done this, he wields power only in a principled manner. And this power cannot be undermined by any human enemy. In the same way, monk, a Realized One, a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha, a just and principled king, provides just protection and security regarding bodily actions, relying only on principle—honoring, respecting, and venerating principle, having principle as his flag, banner, and authority. ‘This kind of bodily action should be cultivated. This kind of bodily action should not be cultivated.’

“Mendicants, even a wheel-turning monarch, a just and principled king, does not wield power without having their own king.” When he said this, one of the mendicants said to the Buddha, “But who is the king of the wheel-turning monarch, the just and principled king?” “It is principle, monk,” said the Buddha. “Monk, a wheel-turning monarch provides just protection and security for his court, relying only on principle—honoring, respecting, and venerating principle, having principle as his flag, banner, and authority. He provides just protection and security for his aristocrats, vassals, troops, brahmins and householders, people of town and country, ascetics and brahmins, beasts and birds. When he has done this, he wields power only in a principled manner. And this power cannot be undermined by any human enemy. In the same way, monk, a Realized One, a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha, a just and principled king, provides just protection and security for the monks, relying only on principle—honoring, respecting, and venerating principle, having principle as his flag, banner, and authority. ‘This kind of bodily action should be cultivated. This kind of bodily action should not be cultivated. This kind of verbal action should be cultivated. This kind of verbal action should not be cultivated. This kind of mental action should be cultivated. This kind of mental action should not be cultivated. This kind of livelihood should be cultivated. This kind of livelihood should not be cultivated. This kind of village or town should be cultivated. This kind of village or town should not be cultivated.’

If he stays at home, having conquered this land without rod or sword, he shall govern by principle. But if he goes forth from the lay life to homelessness, he becomes an Awakened One, a perfected one, with veil cast off, supreme. Ask him about my birth, clan, and marks, my hymns and acolytes; and further, about heads and head-splitting— but do so only in your mind!

Having created the creation, He watches over it Himself, by His Greatness. He does whatever He pleases. No one can issue any order to Him. He is the King, the King of kings, the Supreme Lord and Master of kings. Nanak remains subject to His Will. ||1||

Pauree: That king sits upon the throne, who is worthy of that throne. Those who realize the True Lord, they alone are the true kings. These mere earthly rulers are not called kings; in the love of duality, they suffer. Why should someone praise someone else who is also created? They depart in no time at all. The One True Lord is eternal and imperishable. One who, as Gurmukh, understands becomes eternal as well. ||6||

Salok, Fifth Mehl: The servants of the True King are acceptable and approved. Those ignorant ones who serve duality, O Nanak, rot, waste away and die. ||1||

Governing a great state is like cooking small fish. Let the kingdom be governed according to the Tao, and the manes of the departed will not manifest their spiritual energy. It is not that those manes have not that spiritual energy, but it will not be employed to hurt men. It is not that it could not hurt men, but neither does the ruling sage hurt them. When these two do not injuriously affect each other, their good influences converge in the virtue (of the Tao).

A state may be ruled by (measures of) correction; weapons of war may be used with crafty dexterity; (but) the kingdom is made one’s own (only) by freedom from action and purpose. How do I know that it is so? By these facts:—In the kingdom the multiplication of prohibitive enactments increases the poverty of the people; the more implements to add to their profit that the people have, the greater disorder is there in the state and clan; the more acts of crafty dexterity that men possess, the more do strange contrivances appear; the more display there is of legislation, the more thieves and robbers there are. Therefore a sage has said, “I will do nothing (of purpose), and the people will be transformed of themselves; I will be fond of keeping still, and the people will of themselves become correct. I will take no trouble about it, and the people will of themselves become rich; I will manifest no ambition, and the people will of themselves attain to the primitive simplicity.”

The ancients who showed their skill in practising the Tao did so, not to enlighten the people, but rather to make them simple and ignorant. The difficulty in governing the people arises from their having much knowledge. He who (tries to) govern a state by his wisdom is a scourge to it; while he who does not (try to) do so is a blessing. He who knows these two things finds in them also his model and rule. Ability to know this model and rule constitutes what we call the mysterious excellence (of a governor). Deep and far-reaching is such mysterious excellence, showing indeed its possessor as opposite to others, but leading them to a great conformity to him.