Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c43.100

c43.100

There was a tendency to form a smaller body inside the cabinet. The members of this, what we may call the Inner body, were three or four, according to the Artha-Śāstra (p. 28.). It was with them that the king constantly conferred ('मन्त्रयेत'). These ministers are called the Mantrins (मन्त्रिणः) in the Artha-Śāstra and the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahā-Bhārata. In this character the '*mantrins*' mean 'those vested with *mantra* or the policy of state,' as is evident from the expressions *mantradharas* in the Rāmāyaṇa² and *mantra-grāhas* in the Mahā-Bhārata.³