Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s10.13

c9.s10.13

The *Śukranīti*,² too, understands *Virāṭ* to denote a superior kind of monarch. In the *Mahābhārata* Kṛishṇa is lauded as *Samrāṭ*, *Virāṭ*, *Svarāṭ* and *Sura-rāja*.³ If the Uttara-Kurus and the Uttara-Madras are to be regarded as republican, it is not because of the use of the term *Vairājya*, but because in their case it is not the *rājan* but the *janapada* which is said to be anointed for sovereignty. It should, however, be remembered that already in the Brāhmaṇa period Uttara-Kuru has become a *devakshetra* which the arms of a mortal could not reach.⁴