State and Government in Ancient India c10.s3.1

c10.s3.1

The influence of theological, religious and philosophical concepts on Hindu polity may be briefly noticed here. The concept of Dharma as the ultimate and supreme power was responsible for the king being struck by the Dharmadanda thrice on the occasion of his coronation; it was also responsible for the exhortation to him to lead his whole life as dedicated to duty, *dhṛitavrata*. The duties of the king were conceived as Rājadharna. The violation of Dharma was ultimately punishable by God. So the king became ultimately accountable to God, who was to punish him in a suitable manner; our political writers therefore usually did not encourage the subjects to seek to punish the king for his delinquencies. This concept of the supremacy of Dharma prevented the development of a reasoned philosophy of the rights of the people or opposition to tyranny.