Corporate Life in Ancient India c7.53

c7.53

It thus appears that both the merits and the defects of the democratic constitution were present in these cases. On the one hand there was the general assembly, containing both the young and the old, as the supreme authority in the state, with power to enact new laws and abrogate old ones, while, on the other, they suffered from the want of that stability which is the peculiar merit of a strong monarchy, and were always liable to fall victims to disunion and a desire for too sweeping changes. Yet, on the whole, their constitutions were looked upon with favour and extorted the admiration of the Lord Buddha. Thus, referring to the Lichchhavis he said “O brethren, let those of the brethren who have never seen the Tāvatiṁsa gods, gaze upon this assembly (*parisaṁ*) of the Lichchhavis, behold this assembly of the Lichchhavis, compare this assembly of the Lichchhavis even as an assembly of Tāvatiṁsa gods.”²