War in Ancient India c12.115

c12.115

Thus both the ambassador and the spy were the diplomatic agents who were responsible for ‘information’ in war, which denotes, according to Clausewitz, the knowledge of the enemy and his country. The spy was distinguished from the dūta. The spy could be roughly handled if found out. When Rāvaṇa's spies were discovered by the monkey hosts, they were dragged before their leader Rāma violently and assaulted.⁷² On a certain occasion when a dūta came, Rāma would not allow him to be molested.⁷³ Thus the ancient Indian diplomacy was a curious mixture of idealism and realism, and was governed by sound principles of international morality. In theory secret diplomacy was denounced; but it was still put into practice.