Devanagari
आत्मानं प्रकृतिष्वद्धा निधाय श्रेय आप्नुयात् ।
राज्ञा तथा प्रकृतयो नरदेवाहिताधय: ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
ātmānaṁ prakṛtiṣv addhā
nidhāya śreya āpnuyāt
rājṣā tathā prakṛtayo
naradevāhitādhayaḥ
Synonyms
ātmānam
—
himself
;
prakṛtiṣu
—
under these seven royal elements
;
addhā
—
directly
;
nidhāya
—
placing
;
śreyaḥ
—
ultimate happiness
;
āpnuyāt
—
may obtain
;
rājṣā
—
by the king
;
tathā
—
so also
;
prakṛtayaḥ
—
the dependent royal elements
;
nara
—
deva — O King
;
āhita
—
adhayaḥ — offering wealth and other items .
Translation
O King, O lord of humanity, when a king directly depends upon his associates and follows their instructions, he is happy. Similarly, when his associates offer their gifts and activities to the king and follow his orders, they are also happy.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King! When a king directly depends upon his associates and follows their instructions, he is happy. Similarly, when his associates offer their gifts and activities to the king and follow his orders, they are also happy.
When the king gives all his duties to his ministers the kingdom is happy. O King! Ministers who offer wealth, horses and elephants, cause of anxiety and greed, to the king, are protected by the king. Another version has āhatādhayaḥ: ministers whose anxieties are destroyed by the king become happy.
Purport
The actual happiness of a king and his dependents is described in this verse. A king should not simply give orders to his dependents because he is supreme; sometimes he must follow their instructions. Similarly, the dependents should depend on the king. This mutual dependence will make everyone happy.