Err on the Side of Strength
The Maurya Empire was the largest empire in Indian history by territory. The land it controlled and influenced directly was never consolidated again until the British Empire, two thousand years later. Ashoka was the most powerful ruler of the Mauryan dynasty. But his obsession with non-violence hollowed the empire from within. The army had no territory to conquer. So it grew weak.
When Ashoka died, the cracks surfaced. One after another, Mauryan rulers assumed the throne. But each failed to assert control over the territory. Feudatories were carving out their own dominions. The army had no mandate to establish sovereignty. It lacked discipline and direction. Pushyamitra Shunga was the military general serving under the last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha Maurya.
Pushyamitra summoned Brihadratha to address the army. When the king stood before his troops, Pushyamitra killed him. In full view of the assembled ranks. They did nothing. They quietly submitted to Pushyamitra Shunga, who assumed power. He was a capable commander. He delivered on his word. He restored order and consolidated territory. But it was too late to reclaim the empire's former scale.
The lesson was unambiguous. Sometimes you have to kill the king to save the empire. This principle applies everywhere. You have to be ruthless. You have to discard loyalty when it becomes a liability. If you must err, err on the side of strength. If loyalty is corrosive in the long run, there is no virtue in maintaining it. Loyalty must serve either your personal objectives or the greater cause.
Consider patriotism. No matter how much you despise the government, you cannot be disloyal to your country. You do not become a sellout. Your country is more important than your short-term grievances.
Cut off the people who do not value you. Examine where you are at fault. Accept your mistakes. Do not be arrogant without cause. But if you have sufficient evidence, excise them. Be ruthless in removing people from your life.
Be ruthless in how you allocate your time. When you are good at something, people will seek you out. They will gravitate towards you, asking for advice, studying how you operate. Sometimes out of genuine curiosity. Sometimes out of envy. You have to be wary of such people. You have to be deliberate about where your time goes. You have to own that decision. If you don't, someone else will make it for you.
Ruthlessness is not insensitivity. It is not rudeness. It is the discipline to prioritise the greater cause regardless of the immediate cost. That cause could be your sanity. It could be your principles. It could be your long-term growth. People will respect you more for having the resolve to choose. Most people cannot choose. So they accept whatever arrives. They complain. They bicker. But they will never show courage.
Ruthlessness is also courage. The courage to do what is not morally convenient in the immediate moment. To do something that will invite criticism. That requires nerve, because you are choosing the long term at the cost of short-term pain. Pushyamitra Shunga chose the empire over the king. He ruled for nearly thirty-six years. History remembers him as the man who killed his sovereign, but had he not, the empire would have collapsed under its own weight.
Do not let your potential go to waste. The accounts will be written and rewritten. Do what your conviction demands. You define the morality. And always err on the side of strength.