Hindu Administrative Institutions c8.s3.56

c8.s3.56

Besides the *mantri-pariṣad* which we have taken as the state-council, we find another institution of greater importance. This, we may characterize, as the secret council of the chief ministers more closely in the confidence of the ruling monarch. The *Arthaśāstra* assigns to this smaller but more influential body several functions of state. It was perhaps a purely deliberative body, the *mantri-pariṣad* being deprived of this power in course of time as it became a rather unwieldy body. We hear in the *Mahābhārata* that this latter assembly consisted of as many as thirty-seven members. According to the extreme political philosopher Kaṇika it is no matter for secrecy if the thing goes beyond six ears. Hence Kaṇika would not allow more than three persons to deliberate on the vital affairs of the state.³