State and Government in Ancient India c23.s6.10

c23.s6.10

The effectiveness of the advice of ministers largely depended on the character of the king and their own reputation. Kṛishṇadevarāya was a powerful ruler with a forceful personality; we find him declaring war against Bijapur inspite of the opposition of his ministers. But in one of his soliloquies we find the same king saying, 'I am sitting upon the throne but the whole world is ruled by ministers; who listens to my words?'¹