A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c11.s1.8

c11.s1.8

When we turn to consider the general theory of kingship in Kāmandaka, we find him virtually reproducing in a somewhat perfunctory fashion some of the basic ideas of the older masters. He has, to begin with, a lively sense of the importance of the king's office from the point of view of the subjects. Protection, he says in one place, depends upon the king; the science of agriculture, cattle-breeding and trade (*vārttā*), in its turn, depends upon protection, if this science were to be suspended, the people would not live even though they might breathe. Like the clouds, Kāmandaka goes on, the king is the refuge of all creatures: if the clouds were to go wrong, the creatures could still live, but they could not do so if the king were to go wrong.∗ According to this view, then, the king's office is the primary as well as the essential condition of existence.† In an earlier passage the author shows how the happiness as well as the misery of the people depends upon the personality of the king. There he says that the king who is approved by the aged persons causes prosperity and rejoicing, while he who is an imperfect guide plunges the people in utter destruction.‡