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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.7.8

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 7: The ministers who sustain the Kingdom. Ministers and priests advise Daśaratha, gather intelligence, maintain the treasury and army, and administer justice without favour

In the sequence: they punish wrongdoing even in their own sons but will not harm an enemy who has committed no offense → they maintain the treasury and army while weighing circumstances before imposing punishment

1.7.8

kośasaṃgrahaṇe yuktā balasya ca parigrahe
ahitaṃ cāpi puruṣaṃ na vihiṃsyur adūṣakam

Intent on filling the treasury and on maintaining the army, they would not injure even a hostile man if he had done no wrong.

Words: kośasaṃgrahaṇe — in amassing the treasury; yuktā — engaged, intent; balasya — of the army, force; ca — and; parigrahe — in the maintenance, upkeep; ahitaṃ — hostile, an enemy; cāpi — and even; puruṣaṃ — a man; na — not; vihiṃsyur — would they harm, injure; adūṣakam — who has done no wrong, blameless

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.