A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c10.26

c10.26

In the above extracts, it will be noticed, the canonical author develops, however unconsciously, the idea expressed by Kauṭilya with reference to the end of the Arthaśāstra. The view of the author of the Śāntiparvan relating to the nature of rājadharma is similarly connected with that of an earlier teacher, Indra, who held, as we have seen in another place, that the Kṣatriya's duty was the foremost of all.∗ Its keynote is struck in the very first question addressed by Yudhiṣṭhira to Bhīṣma. Rājadharma, says the king in introducing his question, is declared by those versed in the sacred law to be the foremost of all duties: it is the refuge of the whole world: virtue, wealth and desire, nay, salvation itself depend upon it: like the rein unto the steed and the goad to the elephant is the rājadharma unto the people. If the king were to err with respect to that duty which is followed by the royal sages, the stability of the world would cease and everything would be thrown into confusion. Rājadharma does away with the evil condition which fails to secure heaven, just as the rise of the sun dispels darkness.† This point is treated in fuller detail in some later chapters where Bhīṣma, after describing the duties of the four castes and the four orders, winds up with a comparative estimate of the merits of rājadharma and other duties. All the duties of the three classes, he says, together with their minor duties, are settled out of the king's duties by the Kṣatriyas who follow the highest duty among man. All duties are swallowed up in those of the king, just as the foot-prints of all other creatures sink in those of the elephant. The other duties are the refuge of the few and bear little fruit, while the duty of the Kṣatriyas is the refuge of many people and produces many blessings. If daṇḍanīti were to perish, the triple Veda would disappear and all duties would decline : if the primeval rājadharma of the Kṣatriyas were to be given up, all duties of the orders would come to an end\*. The address is continued in the same strain through the two following chapters, but these do not add anything to the force of the argument. The panegyric reaches, we think, its climax in some earlier verses of the same address. There Bhīṣma says that all duties have rājadharma at their head, and all kinds of renunciation are comprised therein. Further he states that every enjoyment, all religious ceremonies, all learning, and all worlds are included in rājadharma†. The gist of the above passages may perhaps be expressed by saying that rājadharma comprehends all other classes of duties and is the mainspring as well as guarantee thereof ‡.