A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c6.19.4

c6.19.4

Further the rules of the Law which derived their origin from Divine Revelation embodied in the Vedas imposed upon the king a bundle of duties whose observance was enforced by the highest moral and spiritual sanctions.∗ Among these duties was reckoned that of respecting the traditional rights of the individuals as well as of collective groups,—rights which were indeed invested with an imperishable authority by their inclusion in the Sacred Canon. The Brāhmaṇa canonists, for instance, lay down with scrupulous care the heads of the government revenue as well as the proportion payable under each head, and they mention classes of people that are altogether to be exempted from taxation. Further, the canonical writers require the king to respect the customs of diverse communal units and even to give legal effect to the rules passed by such bodies.†