War in Ancient India c11.53

c11.53

We pass on to the sphere of action,²⁷ which goes by the name of Maṇḍala, its conception being essentially dynamic. Except the madhyama and udāsīna, the other ten of the Rājaprakṛti form the ten diplomatic zones. The ‘circle of states’ is known as the maṇḍala group. The credit for the invention of this new policy is attributed to Śukrācārya.²⁸ We must not confound this new political theorist with the author of the treatise now extant and edited by Dr. Oppert. Undoubtedly the reference is to a work lost now. It is certainly not unreasonable to conjecture that Śukrācārya, the Purohit of the Asuras and a finished master of Vedic literature, took this idea from the Vedic rituals.²⁹ “Prajāpati, the God of Creation, once thought to himself, ‘May I become greater?’ For this he practised fervour. On this he was struck with what is known as the twelve-day rite. He grasped it at once and went through the sacrifice with it. He encircled the twelve-day rite with the fortification of Gāyatrī and won glory and prosperity. He who understands this is sure to prosper. Further, Prajāpati addressed the seasons and the months to sacrifice with him in the twelve-day rite. Those of the first half joined as allies in it, by which evil was effectively removed. The other half did not join in the sacrifice, and hence were regarded as enemies. He who realises this could do away with evil.” It may be said that the circle of twelve states with allies and enemies could have been evolved from this conception of the twelve-day rite. For it is said to consist of 12 kings, who, according to Kauṭalya, are Vijigīṣu (the invader), Ari (immediate enemy), Mitra (invader’s ally), Arimitra (enemy’s ally), Mitrāmitra (invader’s ally’s ally), Amitrāmitra (enemy’s ally’s ally), Pārṣṇigrāha (rear enemy), Ākranda (rear friend), Pārṣṇigrāhasāra (ally of rear enemy), and Ākrandasāra (ally of a rear ally).³⁰ Behind are the madhyama and the udāsīna, wrongly interpreted by Shama Sastri³¹ as ‘mediatory’ and ‘neutral’ kings. Dr. N. N. Law is right when he explains the term as ‘medium’ and ‘super’ and assigns them a right position in the circle.