History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.56.3

v4.c62.56.3

The Sautrāmaṇi *iṣṭi* is prescribed as a rite for a king to regain a kingdom from which he had been driven away (vide H. Dh. vol. II. p. 1227). Śānti 92. 6 and 9, Manu VII. 27 and 34, Yāj. I. 356 appear to justify at least deposing a king, if not tyrannicide. Similarly, the Śukranītisāra (II. 274–275) states ³⁵ that a king, though of a noble pedigree, should be abandoned, if he violates dharına, if he hates good qualities (in others), lines of policy and the army and if his conduct would lead to the destruction of the kingdom and that the family priest with the consent of the principal officers of state should place on the throne another scion of the royal family who is possessed of the requisite virtues. Nārada props up the theory of divine right by stating that the king secures dominion over (lit. purchases) his subjects by his austerities (performed in former lives) and therefore the king is their lord (prakīrṇaka 25). Śukranīti I. 20 also brings in the doctrine of Karma 'the king holds the earth by the actions of his former lives and by his austerities.' Compare Manu VII. 111-112, Śānti 78. 36. The Śukranītisāra (IV. 7. 332-333) says that brāhmaṇas may even fight and destroy an oppressive kṣatriya king and would thereby incur no sin. The Yaśastilaka (III. p. 431) gives examples of kings killed by their subjects, one being a Kaliṅga king who made a barber his commander-in-chief.