महाराणा कुम्भा (हरविलास सारदा - मेवाड़ साम्राज्य के अद्वितीय विजेता, निर्माता व विद्वान्)

Maharana Kumbha. crush them when they could easily do so, even though this was necessary to save their country from attack. They even went further, and, as we have seen in this book, spared their foes when the latter fell into their hands, and sometimes even sent them home loaded with gifts under proper escort, completely ignoring the direful results of similar previous acts of misconceived genero- sity, repeatedly shown by Hindu monarchs. They never learnt the lesson that the best defence against an enemy is to attack him, and that one can never break the power of an enemy by limiting one's activi- ties to mere defence. The inevitable result of a purely defensive policy is loss of one's posses- sions. The law of nature is that you must advance, make progress. or fall back and dis- appear. Individuals may comfort themselves that they would gain Heaven by pursuing this policy, but they would lose their freedom and their country as surely as that the day follows the night. It is the first principle of political conduct that you should not only defend yourself 203