History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.5

v4.c62.5

The fulfilment of their duties and responsibilities by rulers was of paramount importance to the stability and orderly development of society and to the happiness of individuals in the State and therefore one often finds that rājadharma is said to be the root of or the quintessence of all *dharmas*. Śāntiparva (63.25) states ‘know that all dharmas are merged in rājadharma; that rājadharmas are at the head of all dharmas’ and (141.9-10) ‘the welfare, good rains, sickness, calamities and death among people owe their origin to the king’³. It was the king’s duty to see that the people in his kingdom acted according to the rules laid down in the smṛtis for the several varṇas and āśramas, to administer justice and to interfere when his help was sought for by a *pariṣad* (assembly of learned men) in enforcing the *prāyaścitta* (penance) prescribed for various lapses. Vide Gautama X. 7-8, XI. 9-11, Āp. Dh. S. II. 5. 10. 13-16⁴, Vasiṣṭha 19. 1-2, Viṣṇu III. 2-3, Nārada (prakīrṇaka, 5-7 and 33-34), Sāntiparva 77.33 and 57.15, Matsyapurāṇa 215.63, Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa 27.28 and 28.36 and H. Dh. vol. II. p. 965. Therefore it may be said with truth (as done by the Mahābhārata) that *rājadharma* was the highest goal of all the world, that it comprehended within itself all rules of *ācāra*, *vyavahāra* (administration of justice) and *prāyaścitta* (penance). It is on account of this all-pervading influence of government or royal power that the Mahābhārata frequently emphasizes that the king is the maker of his age, that it is he who can usher a golden age or an age of strife and misery for the country⁵. The Śukranītisāra (I.