Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c48.15

c48.15

§ 355. His utility was very great. He saw to the transfer of ministers and ministry and was the co-ordinating spirit in government. Propelled by his high sense of sacrifice, high traditions and high position, morally he stood far higher than the ministers and rulers-ministers. If people found the actual governors bad, he still remained the centre of hope and reform and avoided disruption.¹ Ministers came and went, but the king remained. Even when he was powerless, he was (as Kauṭilya puts it) the Symbol of State.² He was the standard of sovereignty to rally loyalty and hold the realm together. He was, in the words of Śukra, the root of the tree of State: "King is the root of the Tree of State; the Ministry "is its trunk, the military chiefs are branches, the army are the "leaves of the tree and the Subjects are its flowers, "prosperity of the Country its fruits, and the whole Country "the final seed."³