Public Administration in Ancient India c12.5

c12.5

Great importance was attached in ancient days to the proper selection of Ministers. A Minister was chosen not only in view of his capacity and character, but also of his family connections. The fittest person to be a Minister was he who was "a native of the country; born of a high family; influential; learned in the arts and sciences; possessed of wisdom and foresight; endowed with a good memory; capable; eloquent; intelligent; possessed of enthusiasm, endurance, dignity and grandeur; pure in character, devotedly attached (to the interests of the State); endowed with excellent conduct, strength, health, and boldness; devoid of procrastination and fickleness of mind; of a loving nature; and not of a disposition to excite enmity.”¹ This was the ideal measure of the qualities of a Minister, and one who made a close approximation to this ideal was considered as a Minister belonging to the highest class. A Minister whose qualifications fell short of the ideal measure by a quarter was of the middling type; while he who possessed only one-half of the qualifications, belonged to the inferior class.² The Mahābhārata also lays down a very high standard of ministerial qualifications. “The person,” says the great Epic, “who achieves celebrity, who observes all restraints, who never feels jealous of others, who never does