Hindu Administrative Institutions c6.64

c6.64

Kauṭalya says that *daṇḍa* which is applied after duly examining the precepts laid down in the *Śāstras* (सुविज्ञातप्रणीतः) alone ends in the realization of *dharma*, *artha* and *kāma*,—the *trivarga* of Hindu literature. We shall examine later the nature of this *trivarga* and its relation to the *daṇḍa nīti*. An ill-application of the *daṇḍa* (दुष्प्रणीतः) i.e. not administering justice according to the rules and regulations ordained in the sacred books, cannot realize the end. It is said that *daṇḍa* which is the consequence of ambition, jealousy, and ignorance, enkindles the anger even of *vānaprasthas* and ascetics. And further the absence of application of *daṇḍa* gives the occasion for *mātsya nyāya* which we shall explain later on. Protected by *daṇḍa*, Kauṭalya concludes, the state prospers.² In recapitulating the substance of the original *daṇḍa nīti* of Brahma, the Creator, Bhīṣma remarks, that this treatise is directed by *daṇḍa*, or *daṇḍa* is the directing force of this work. This *daṇḍa nīti* was made for the well-being of the world and for the establishment of *trivarga*. *Daṇḍa* affords protection to the world by means of repression and favour.³