Hindu Administrative Institutions c8.s3.74

c8.s3.74

The next question is whether the king consulted all these thirty-seven ministers, and if so, would not the object of the *mantra*, namely, secrecy, be defeated? Political thinkers have given some thought to this question, and there is mention of a smaller number fit to be consulted. But this number was in no way fixed. For in one place it is said that the number must not be less than three¹ and in another five² and in a third, eight.³ The lawgiver Manu fixes the number at seven or eight.⁴ It is indeed refreshing to note that all the communities find representation on it thus falsifying the easy inference that these political organizations were devised with a view to the detriment of some and aggrandizement of other communities. The commentator defines the eight councillors to be four Brahmans, three Śūdras and one Sūta.⁵ Here is proof positive of the inclusion of the Śūdra community in the highest executive machinery of the state. And the inference is irresistible, that the Śūdras worked side by side with the Brahmans in guiding the ship of the state during the storm and stress which were a frequently occurring factor in ancient times. It may also be noted that the two communities—both the ruling and the wealthy ones, the Kṣatriyas and the Vaiśyas, and hence the aristocratic classes—were excluded from the *mantra*. We are not in a position to assign any definite reasons for the exclusion