Public Administration in Ancient India c7.4

c7.4

to error, the perceptions of men became clouded, and, as a consequence, their virtues began to decline. Love of acquisition got hold of them, and they became covetous. When they had become subject to covetousness, another passion, namely wrath, soon possessed their minds. Once subject to wrath, they lost all consideration of what ought to be done and what should be avoided. Thus, unrestrained license set in. Men began to do what they liked and to utter what they chose. All distinctions between virtue and vice came to an end. When such confusion possessed the souls of men, the knowledge of the Supreme Being disappeared, and with the disappearance of the highest knowledge, righteousness was utterly lost. The gods were then overcome with grief and fear, and approached Brahmā for protection and advice. Brahmā then created by a fiat of his will a son named Virajas. This son, born of the energy of Brahmā, was made the ruler of the world.¹