Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c10.s1.9

v1.c10.s1.9

That the Vijayanagara monarchs had indeed before them the precepts of the ancient and mediaeval Hindu writers in the matter of State expenditure, is evident from the writings and actions of the greatest emperor of the land, Kṛiṣhṇa Dēva Rāya, who in his Amuktamālyada has defined expenditure in the following terms: "The expenditure of money which is utilised in buying elephants and horses, in feeding them, in maintaining soldiers, in the worship of gods and Brahmans and in one's own enjoyment can never be called an expenditure".⁴ We may compare this Vijayanagara conception of expenditure with that given by Kauṭilya. "The chanting of auspicious hymns during the worship of the gods and ancestors, and on the occasion of giving gifts, the harem, the kitchen, the establishment of messengers, the store-house, the armoury, the ware-house, the store-house of raw materials, manufactories. . . . free labourers, . . . , maintenance of infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants, herds of cows, the museum of beasts, deer, birds, and snakes, and storage of fire-wood and fodder constitute the body of expenditure. . .".¹ Krishna Dēva Rāya also seemed to have had in his mind the principles of Sukra, who mentions the army as the root of the prosperity of the *kōśa* and *rāṣṭra*,² and who maintains that the expenditure on the army is productive in every sense.³