A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c10.101

c10.101

While laying down their rules of public policy, the canonical authors show themselves ready enough to justify the king's sacrifice of personal and domestic ties for the purpose of ensuring the good of the State. The person who acts contrary to the interests of the kingdom consisting of seven limbs, says Bhīṣma in one place, must certainly be slain, no matter whether he is a preceptor or a friend.∗ Yet it is noticeable that as in Kauṭilya the goal towards which the system of statecraft is directed is not territorial aggrandisement. Manu, for example, requires that the king after winning a victory should place a relative of the vanquished ruler on the throne after fully ascertaining the wishes of the conquered people.†