Hindu Administrative Institutions c6.s1.7

c6.s1.7

Tradition as to the human origin of the science of *daṇḍa nīti* is not wanting. In the same book of the *Mahābhārata*³ the authorship of the science is attributed to eight sages. After composing the said science the sages placed it before God Nārāyaṇa for approval. The God was exceedingly pleased with that great and useful work, and remarked that this original work of the sages would last down to the period of King Uparichara and vanish at his death. It would further be a guide to Svāyambhuva Manu who will promulgate the principles of *dharma* to the world at large, and it would also prove a fruitful source of information for the treatises of Bṛhaspati and Sukra.