History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.41

v4.c62.41

It should be noted that neither Kauṭilya nor Kāmandaka defines *rājya*. Etymologically it means the 'karma' or 'bhāva' (activity or state of a king)', being derived from 'rājan' with the affix 'ya' (ṣyañ or 'yak', acc. to Pāṇini V. 1. 124 and 128). This is the etymological meaning. But 'rājya' is employed in the sense of 'kingdom' in popular parlance and also in the smṛtis and works on polity as in Manu VII. 111, Kām. XIII. 81-82. But when it is said that 'rājya' has seven elements then 'rājya' has a very wide meaning and stands for the king, the ministers, the country and its people and the economic and military resources and in such a case it is proper to translate the word as 'the State' (as including both the Government and the governed). In some cases 'rājya' should be rendered as 'government' which includes only the king and his ministers and conveys also in modern times the agency or machinery through which the will of the State is formulated, realized or carried out; vide Mānasollāsa II. 8, verses 688, 689, 691 The Nītivākyāmṛta (p. 43) says "rājya means the activity of the ruler that would be appropriate to protecting the earth".