War in Ancient India c11.62

c11.62

The *Mitākṣara* on the verse I. 345 of the *Yājñavalkya smṛti* has some interesting points on the maṇḍala question. There are different versions as to the constitution of a circle of states. Some fix the number at four, six or eight, and others at twelve. Immediate neighbours are hostile to each other, and those succeeding the first circle or the immediate neighbours are allies to the king at the centre. The centre of the circle is composed of the conquering king (Vijigīṣu) and his immediate enemy (Ari); and on the circumference are the different maṇḍalas of other States. Then follow orbits described in accordance with the laws of attraction and repulsion, primordial and fatal. This probably reflects the ancient astronomical theories of the movement of the stars. Thus the conception of Maṇḍala is dynamic. The kings residing in the surrounding circles are not neutrals, as some scholars seem to opine. The Kauṭalīya speaks of the four kinds of foreign rulers—Ari, Mitra, Madhyama, Udāsīna.