History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.119

v4.c62.119

All works are agreed that the first and foremost duty of the king is the protection of subjects. Śāntiparva (68. 1-4) notes that all the seven expounders of polity (rājaśāstrapraṇetāraḥ) named by it extol protection as the highest *dharma* of the king. Manu VII. 144 states that the protection of subjects is the highest dharma and Kālidāsa in Raghuvaṁśa 14.67 alludes to this dictum of Manu. Protection consists in punishing internal aggression (such as by thieves and robbers and by persons who invade a man's rights) and in meeting external⁶⁸ aggression. Vide quotation from Bṛhaspati below. Gautama (X. 7-8) prescribes that the special responsibility of the king is to protect all beings, to award just punishment and that he has to protect the several varṇas and āśramas according to the rules of śāstra and to bring them round to the path of their proper duties when they swerve from it (XI. 9-10). Vasiṣṭha (19. 1-2) states that the wise say that protection is a life-long *sattra* in which he has to give up fear and softness of heart. Vas. 19. 7-8 and Viṣṇu Dh. S. III. 2-3 are similar to Gaut. XI. 9-10. The Śāntiparva (23.15) repeats a *gāthā* of Bṛhaspati 'As a snake swallows mice lying in holes, so the earth swallows these two viz. a king who does not fight (an invader) and a brāhmaṇa who does not go on a journey (for acquiring knowledge from famous teachers)'68a. Manu IX. 306 states that the king protecting his subjects according to the śāstra and meting out punishment to those who deserve it performs every day sacrifices in which the fees are one hundred thousand cows (i. e. he secures the spiritual reward of very solemn sacrifices). Yāj. I. 335 is to the same effect. Kauṭilya also lays emphasis on the duty to keep the varṇas and āśramas to their duties 'Therefore the king should not allow the people to swerve from their duties. He, who keeps dharma intact (without breach), enjoys bliss in this world and the next'. Nārada⁶⁹ (prakīrṇaka 33) states 'His duty is to protect the subjects, to (honour or) listen to the aged and the wise, to look into the disputes of people and to be energetic in his functions as king'. Śukra (I. 14) says that the highest dharma of the king is to protect the subjects and to put down the wicked. According to Atri (verse 28),⁷⁰ to punish the wicked, to honour the good, to increase the treasury in the right way, to deal impartially with litigants and to protect the kingdom-these five are declared to be sacrifices in the case of kings. The Viṣṇudharmottara (III. 323. 25-26) refers to the five sacrifices in very similar words. In Śānti 77. 33 the king's duty to restrain brāhmaṇas from engaging in unworthy actions is specially emphasized. These passages establish that the principal duties of the king were conceived to be to protect the subjects, to see that the rules of varṇas and āśramas were carried out by them, to punish the wicked and to do justice.