History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.378.1

v4.c62.378.1

The first quality required in a king according to Yāj. I. 309 quoted above (p. 44) is great energy and Kauṭ. also (in VI. 1) mentions ‘great energy’ (mahotsāha) among the qualities called ‘ābhigāmika’. Works on dharmaśāstra and arthaśāstra emphasize the fact that a king must always be full of activity and must not be lethargic or fatalistic. In the Mahābhārata the topic of human effort and *daiva* (fate or destiny) comes up for treatment in numerous places and is put in the mouth of several characters with different emphasis according to circumstances. In Ādi 1. 246-247, 89. 7-10, Sabhā 46. 16, 47. 36, 58. 14, Vanaparva 179. 27-28, Udyoga 8. 52, 40. 32, 159. 4, 186. 18, Āśramavāsika 10. 29 the emphasis is on *daiva* as all powerful, it being said that human effort is useless as against *daiva*. A golden mean is advocated in Ādi. 123. 21, Sabhā 16. 12, Udyoga 79. 5-6, Śānti 56. 14-15, Sauptika 2. 3, in all of which it is said that worldly affairs require both *puruṣakāra* (effort) and *daiva*. In certain other passages it is recommended that effort is superior to daiva and that one's business is to make efforts and not to care for fate; e. g. in Droṇa 152. 27, Śānti 27. 32, 58. 13-16, 153. 50, Anuśāsana 6. 1 ff, Sauptika 2. 12-13 and 23-24. A few of the striking passages indicative of the three lines of thought are set out in the note below.²¹⁴ Energetic action, according to Śānti. 58. 13-15, is declared by Bṛhaspati to be the root of rājadharma.