A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c9.27.1

c9.27.1

From this view of the king’s relations with the other factors of sovereignty, let us turn to the broader theory of his relations with his subjects. It is characteristic of the intensely practical nature of the author that for the most part one looks in vain for such a theory in his work. Nevertheless there is at least one remarkable passage which, however much it might be pointed to the practical end of ensuring the internal security of the State, embodies a view of the source and nature of the king's authority. Even this, it seems to us, represents what may be called the current theory of the times rather than an original contribution of Kauṭilya's genius. For it is addressed, as it is hoped to show presently, to the man in the street, as it were.∗ In the chapter in which the above passage occurs Kauṭilya describes the measures that the king should adopt for winning over the friendly as well as the hostile factions within his kingdom. In the course of this description he states that a specific class of spies called the satrins should divide themselves into contending parties and carry on disputations in places of pilgrimage, in assemblies, in residences, in corporate bodies and amid congregations of people.