History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.228

v4.c62.228

Kauṭilya (VIII. 3) when dealing¹²⁷ with the evil results of want of discipline in a king states that kings who are hottempered are known to have fallen victims to popular fury (or the fury of ministers). We may say that in theory and so far as ordinary people were concerned the sovereign's power was absolute and unlimited as Manu IX. 9-12 aptly illustrate and as BṛhatParāśara states 'the king is Brahmā, Śiva, Viṣṇu, Indra, he is the giver, the destroyer, and the enforcer according to the karma of his subjects'. But there were (as stated above) very real checks and limitations that effectively prevented him from exercising his undoubtedly unlimited powers. These checks, though real, cannot be called constitutional in the sense in which that word is used in modern times. As said by Nārada the subjects are dependent while the king is uncontrolled, but he could not go against the śāstra (vide Haradatta on Gaut. XI. 2).