The Karbhari and his Administration The king who gives up the two vices of lust and rage, and allocates wealth where it is due, One who listens well and acts fast, such a king is seen as exemplary by all. One who can make men believe in him, and who punishes those whose crime is established beyond doubt, One who knows his limits and knows pardon, Lakshmi embraces such a king. One who remains unperturbed in crisis and with a clear mind pursues any enterprise he takes, One who, when the time comes, bears suffering and endures, for such a great soul, sagacious as he is, for a king like him, enemies are already won. And existing enmities he does not fan, nor does he quell them; he does not swell with pride, nor shrivel in dejection, One who does not do what should not be done, those who are noble call such a person as possessed of nobility.²³ It was evening. As the momentous day wound to a close, the excitement, too, had begun to ebb in Suvarnapur. Shathrai had become old news. Pramaddhan and Tark Prasad had left for Lilapur. At such a time, Buddhidhan walked about all by himself in the vast magnificent assembly hall of Suvarnapur palace, reciting to himself these verses. The soft lights from the chandeliers soothed his tired eyes. Until today, Buddhidhan had never felt completely at ease in the palace. The Rana’s trust in him was a matter of public knowledge now. With Shathrai out of the way, Buddhidhan no longer needed to play hide and seek, something he had always found distasteful. The Rana and his Karbhari for the first time experienced the joys of mutual trust and openness. A long journey had come to an end. The man who took pride in his Karbhari ancestors was now himself one—the Karbhari, the Chief Administrator of Suvarnapur. And the man who was the king was now a ruler in the true sense of the word. But the fate of Shathrai and his cohorts still remained to be decided. In the native states, factional power changes with a change in the administrator, and the new karbhari abhors all those who have served under the previous administration. Buddhidhan knew that when power is distributed in all factions, it gives the impression of a just administration, which is liked by the reform-minded individuals of Bombay, and those trained in the new education system. But he found that to maintain even the appearance of a balance of power was extraordinarily difficult. If power were vested in two, neither would be able to exercise it unhindered. It may prevent the abuse of power, but it may also not allow for the exercise of power for good ends. How could he trust the other faction? Pity or generosity may be taken as a sign of weakness; people of the state and opposing factions may both interpret such gestures as inability and ineptitude. Moreover, it would also allow them