A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c12.s2.18

c12.s2.18

The theories of kingship in the Śukranīti, we think, are largely based upon those of the earlier writers, but they present some points of remarkable, if not original, interest. Śukra admits in one place that the king and the people are helpful to each other, for he writes, "The people do not follow their respective duties without the king's protection; on the other hand, the king does not prosper on earth without the people."[^asterisk] This passage, however, is preceded by two other verses which occur likewise in Kāmandaka.dagger According to these the king when he is approved by the aged causes prosperity and rejoicing, but if he were not to be a perfect guide, the people would suffer utter destruction like a boat at sea without the helmsman. According to this view, then, the happiness as well as the misery of the subjects depends upon the varying quality of the king. With this is connected an idea that we have found to occur in the Mahābhārata,[^ddagger] namely that the king is the maker of the epoch. Time, Śukra says in one place, is divided according to the seasons (namely, the rainy, the cold and the hot), the courses of the stars, as well as the observance of good and bad along with greater and less conduct. As the king, the author continues, directs the observance of conduct, he is the cause of time; for if time were to be the authority, the fruit of good works