O Dīrghachāryaṇa, most illustrious scholar of the sixteen great kingdoms,
I have no cause to intimate you of Ajātaśatru’s plans of invading your prosperous country – you are surely already aware of this, as he has made his intentions very clear to anyone who cares to hear him. I am writing to you, in secret, rather than to be read in the court of Ayodhya, for I seek to forge an alliance with you – not with the king of Ayodhya, but with you directly.
Ordinary alliances are made on the basis of mutual interest, but I make a far costlier request from you: I ask that we forge an alliance, not for the interests of our respective kingdoms, but for the interest of Vedic civilization at large. For the goal of protecting the Vedas and the Civilized Tongue, the sciences, the culture of free thought and chaste behaviour – from the barbarism that is Ajātaśatru’s expanding empire.
We cannot regard this as a mere conflict between kingdoms. As a conflict between ideas, I fear that this will be only the first of centuries of war. This is why I choose to speak with you, rather than to the king, for as a Brāhmaṇa, your service, beyond your capacity as Chief Minister of Ayodhya, is to the preservation of civilization.
It was unwise of Ayodhya and Vaiśālī to swap daughters in marriage to forge alliances with Magadha – unwise to trust the Magadhas so. I am afraid that Ayodhya’s nobility has become too invested in this alliance to consider my suggestions – that the wisdom and the glory of the ancient Raghu line is lost on the current king, this is why I choose to speak with you.
I believe that Ajātaśatru, as he has already taken Vaiśālī, will first attack your vassals in Kāśī, insisting on maintaining your alliance through some technical pretexts that the king will accept out of laziness or lack of foresight – then once he has consolidated power there, he will seize Ayodhya itself.
He must be stopped before he reaches Mathura. I request your co-operation in all matters.
Krishna.
