State and Government in Ancient India c22.s4.t1.3

c22.s4.t1.3

The king was no doubt the fountain source of all governmental activity. The army and treasury, the keys to all power, were under his immediate control. He was guided by his council of ministers, but he could set aside its advice, if he deemed it necessary in the public interest. He could issue edicts prescribing a definite course of conduct, prohibiting slaughter of animals or announcing administrative innovations. Nevertheless the Mauryan emperors did not degenerate into selfish autocrats. They followed the advice of the *Arthaśāstra* and regarded the welfare and interest of their subjects as more important than their own.¹ Aśoka observes in one of his inscriptions that all his subjects were to him like his children and that his one anxiety was to promote their spiritual and temporal wellbeing.