State and Government in Ancient India c22.s4.t1.2

c22.s4.t1.2

Kauṭilya (I. 21) and Megasthenes refer to the extremely busy daily time table of the king which permitted him hardly six hours rest at night. Only a small part of his time was spent in bath, meal and rest. Almost throughout the day he was busy either in receiving reporters and officers or in participating in the meeting of the ministry, or in surveying the military parades or in judging causes and suits. The *Arthaśāstra* recommends that above all a monarch should be quick in action and remarkable in energy (*adīrghasūtrī mahotsāhaḥ*). Aśoka tells us in his inscriptions that he never felt satisfied that he had done his utmost for his government (*nasti hi me toso utthanamhi, R. E. VI*) and instructs the official reporters to come to him even when he was dining or resting in order to report upon people's business. The Mauryan kings showed untiring energy in the prompt dispatch of official business; this was one of the secrets of the success of the Mauryan administration.