A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c11.s2.1

c11.s2.1

Let us now turn to the second class of writings that may be said more or less properly to fall within the limits of this chapter. This is the collection of the Purāṇas and the minor Law-books (Smṛitis), which represents during this period the literature of the Brahminical canon, just as Kāmandaka's Nītisāra represents the literature of Arthaśāstra.∗ Here again, as in the former case, the signs of decline as compared with the vigorous speculation of the earlier epoch are writ large on the surface. For in the first place much as the authors of the Purāṇas worked out in their sections on rājadharma and Nīti the ideas of the older canon, especially in relation to the king’s office, their contributions are essentially of the nature of compilations based upon the earlier material.† Nothing, moreover, is more characteristic of these authors, in so far as our point of view is concerned, than their endless and monotonous repetition of the rules of kingly conduct in the place of speculations of an abstract nature.‡ As regards the minor Law-books we find that however interesting may be the development of the theory of kingship in these works, they make after all but a slight contribution to political theory.∗