A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c10.34

c10.34

† This personage, however, was too important to be ignored for long in the standard list of the seven ‘elements.’ In the Nītisāra of Kāmandaka (VII 31) the purohita’s good qualities are described under the heading of the excellent qualities of the minister (sachiva). Vijñāneśvara (commentary on Yājñavalkya (I 353) similarly includes the ‘purohita’ along with the ‘mantrin’ in the list of amātyas. Nīlakaṇṭha goes a step further and finds (commentary on Śāntiparvan LXXIX 1) a place for the ‘purohita’ as well as the sacrificial priest (ritvij) in the category of svāmin by making the latter consist of these two persons along with the king.