Date: November 10th 2008

From: Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com Date: Saturday, November 8, 2008


Tirukural
A daily chapter from South Indian saint Tiruvalluvar's Tirukural, "Holy Couplets."
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Chapter 59: Espionage : Competent spies and the respected codes of law--
consider these two the eyes of a king.


Kural 581
Competent spies and the respected codes of law--
consider these two the eyes of a king.
Kural 582
Duty requires the monarch to swiftly acquire
knowledge of all happenings among all men each day.
Kural 583
Without assessing the intelligence reports of informants,
a king can never achieve victory.
Kural 584
The working staff, close kindred and known enemies--
all such people are the legitimate study of spies.
Kural 585
An able spy is one who can assume an unsuspicious disguise,
is fearless when caught and never betrays his secrets.
Kural 586
Disguised as a monk or a mendicant, the master spy
moves about investigating all, never careless, come what may.
Kural 587
A spy must ferret out hidden facts,
assuring himself that knowledge found is beyond doubt.
Kural 588
Before believing one spy's espionage,
have another spy espy the information.
Kural 589
See that informants do not know one another,
and accept their findings only when three reports agree.
Kural 590
One must not openly honor operatives.
To do so is to divulge one's deepest secrets.