Hindu Administrative Institutions c6.s5.16

c6.s5.16

Kāmandaka also speaks of the seven-limbed state.¹ It is said that if even one part is defective it would jeopardize the normal working of the state. To secure complete efficiency it is recommended to repair immediately the impaired parts (iv. 2). On this Śankarārya comments ‘otherwise it would impede the work that could be done only collectively.’ The same idea is expressed in the *Mānava Dharmaśāstra*.² Manu says that these limbs are so linked together as to form one single whole. It is compared to the three staves of a *śanyāsin*, well-knit together so as to form one single staff. Inter-related and inter-dependent each could not harm the other as such.³