Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c41.32

c41.32

§ 266. The revolution enacted in the Mṛichchhakaṭika throws light on another aspect of the constitutional power of the Paura-Jānapada. The reigning king is deposed because of bad administration of law, of which the president of the commercial union had been a victim.¹ The brother of the deposed king who 'established confidence' among the Pauras² obtained sovereignty. The messenger comes to the Jānapada-Samavāya, 'corporate association of the Jānapada' with the news of the revolution,³ who are shortly after addressed as the Pauras and called upon to punish Saṁsthānaka. According to the Mahā-Vaṁsa the Ceylonese chronicle, the Paura in India could depose and banish the king for illegal acts, and they, mindful of the good of all, could choose another in his place, outside the dynasty, by deciding upon it in their meeting.⁴ Here again the Pauras apparently stand for both the Pauras and Jānapadas. In the Daśa-kumāra-charita⁵ the Pauras and the Jānapadas are said to be friendly to the brothers of the king, it is therefore feared by the speaker that they are bound to succeed the king if the latter dies.