State and Government in Ancient India c12.s4.23

c12.s4.23

It has been argued by Dr. Jayaswal that the theory of the Divinity of King was advanced by *Manusmṛiti* to support the Brāhmaṇa empire of Pushyamitra² and to counteract the Buddhist theory of the origin of state by contract. Our discussion above must have made it clear to the reader that the theory of the king's divinity was gradually gaining ground and it cannot be ascribed to Manu alone. The contract theory was also perfunctorily advanced by a few writers, both Hindu and Buddhist, and it was hardly suspected that it was in opposition to the theory of king's divinity.