A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c8.s3.3

c8.s3.3

With this brief survey of the prevailing tendencies of the present period, let us embark on an examination of the works that fall within the limits of this chapter. And first, as regards the Dharmasūtras, it has to be remarked at the outset that the political ideas of the priestly authors do not assume the character of a system: they are rather of the nature of scattered hints which it is left for other schools and authors to develop and mature. At the root of these ideas, however, there lies the unified concept of a social order. The canonical authors of the Dharmasūtras, indeed, treat the public functions of the king not in themselves, but as part and parcel of the Whole Duty of this personage, and, in a wider sense, as an incident in a comprehensive scheme of duties ordained by the Highest God. This might perhaps be taken to imply that Politics comprising the sum of the king’s governmental functions did not rank in these canonical works as an independent science, but it counted as a branch of Positive Law governing the whole conduct of the king, and claiming to derive its origin from the Divine will.