History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.295

v4.c62.295

*Dūta* : (Ambassador or messenger). The word and the office of *dūta* as messenger was known in the most ancient times. In Ṛg. I. 12.1, 1.161.3, VIII. 44.3 Agni is said to be the dūta and is requested to bring the gods to the sacrifice. There is also attached to the word the meaning of espionage, since Saramā, the bitch of the gods, is represented in Ṛg. X. 108. 2-4 as sent by Indra to find out the treasures of the Paṇis. The Udyogaparva (37.27, cr. ed. 37.25) specifies the eight qualities of a dūta viz. he must not be stiff-necked, nor timid, nor dilatory, he must be kind and amiable, not liable to be won over by others, free from diseases, endowed with a fine mode of speech.¹⁶⁸ Śānti 85.28 refers to seven qualities. Vide Ayodhyā 100.35, Manu VII. 63-64, Matsyapurāṇa 215. 12-13 for the qualities of a dūta. The dūta should speak only what he has been ordered (by his king) to speak, otherwise he would be liable to be killed (Udyogaparva 72.7, cr. ed. 70.7). Śānti 85. 26-27 say that the person of the dūta is sacred. Kauṭilya devotes one chapter (I. 16) to the treatment of the subject of dūta. He states that the dūta is to be sent by the king after the line of policy has been settled at a council of ministers to the king who is to be attacked (vide Kām. XII. 1 also). A dūta is of three kinds: (1) nisṛṣṭārtha¹⁶⁹ (one to whom is entrusted full discretion as to what is to be said) is one who is possessed of the qualifications required in a minister (*amātya*), such as Kṛṣṇa from the Pāṇḍavas or the ambassadors in modern times; (2) *parimitārtha* (entrusted with a definite mission, an envoy) who possesses the same qualifications as the first less by one quarter; (3) *śāsanahara* (a mere carrier of royal writings or missives) who possesses only half the qualifications of the first. The Mit. on Yāj. I. 328 lucidly explains the three varieties. Kauṭ. dilates at great length on the qualifications of the dūta, what he has to note while in the enemy country, how he is to behave (such as avoiding women and wine), how he is to gather information through spies; but all this has to be passed over for want of space. Vide Kām. XII. 2-24 for the same. Kām. (XII. 22-23) briefly sets out the following duties of the dūta; determining those who are inimical to the king to whom he is sent, winning over to his side the friends and relatives of the enemy king, finding out the (number and equipment of) forts, the economic resources and military strength of the enemy king, collection of news as to what the enemy intends to do, bringing over to his side the officers in charge of the districts of enemy country, collecting knowledge about the places of the enemy where battles can be waged by his king or whence he can pass away swiftly. Manu VII. 65 says that it is the dūta who brings about alliance or war. Kauṭ. says that when the ruler to whom the dūta is accredited becomes displeased at the message he brings, the dūta should reply¹⁷⁰ 'All kings, you and others, speak through their dūta. Therefore dūtas have to deliver the message entrusted to them even if weapons are raised (to threaten them); even the lowest caste dūtas (cāṇḍālas) are not to be killed, what need be said about a dūta who is a brāhmaṇa? This (that I utter) is the message of another. It is my duty to say it'. The Rāmāyaṇa (V. 52. 14-15) says that good men do not allow the killing of a dūta, but certain modes of dealing with him (viz. lashing him, shaving his head) are allowed in certain cases.