Public Administration in Ancient India c12.52

c12.52

But it would be a mistake to suppose that Ministers were invariably honest and free from vice. Some of them were greedy. “The Treasurer-general,” says Chānakya, “appropriates to himself the money which is paid into the treasury by others; the Collector-general fills his own pockets first, and then gathers revenue for the King, or destroys the revenue collected, and then takes other people’s property at his pleasure."¹ Some Ministers were cruel and oppressive, and often gave a wrong advice to the King. In the words of the poet: