State and Government in Ancient India c15.186

c15.186

Generally speaking, however, in normal times and under normal administrations the ultimate responsibility of decision lay with the king,² but he was usually guided by the advice of the council of his ministers. The relations between the king and his ministers were also cordial. Kings had high regard for their ministers and confided in them as implicitly as in their own heart.³ They regarded them to be as indispensable as their right hands and paid as much regard to their views as to their own.⁴ Kalhaṇa describes how king Jayasiṁha kept by the side of his ailing minister till the last moment of his life (VIII. 3329), and we need not suppose that this was an exceptional case.