State and Government in Ancient India c22.s4.t2.1

c22.s4.t2.1

Ministry formed an important limb of the Mauryan body politic. The *Arthaśāstra* points out that it is as reasonable to expect an administration to function efficiently with king alone unaided by a ministry, as to expect a chariot to move on one wheel only (I. 3). The evidence of the *Mudrārākshasa* shows how very often the prime minister counted much more than the king. Tradition asserts that the great king Aśoka had to bow down before his ministers and stop his extravagant charity to Buddhist Sangha and had eventually to content himself by presenting only half an Āmalaka fruit to it.