History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.73

v4.c62.73

We may examine the theories of the origin of kingship in the Mahābhārata. The Śāntiparva deals with this subject in two places, in chap. 59 and 67. In chap. 59 Yudhiṣṭhira asks the great warrior and statesman Bhīṣma how the title 'king' arose and how one man, who has fundamentally the same physical and mental equipment as other men, rules over all men. These are not really two questions but only two aspects of the same question. Then Bhīṣma starts by saying that there was originally a state of perfection (*Kṛtayuga*) in which there was no king, no kingdom, no punishment and no chastiser. Gradually *moha* (delusion or aberration of mind) spread among people and then greed, sexual desire and passions arose and the Vedas and dharma perished. The gods did not receive offerings and went to Brahmā, who composed a vast treatise as stated above (p. 4) that dealt with the four goals of existence for the benefit of the world and that was the cream of learning. Then the gods went to Viṣṇu and requested him to appoint (as king) one who deserved to be the best among men. Viṣṇu created a son from his mind called Virajas who did not want to be a king. Fifth in descent from Virajas was Vena who destroyed dharma and so the brāhmaṇas killed him and from his right arm they churned Pṛthu, handsome, well-armed and proficient in the Vedas, Vedāṅgas and Daṇḍanīti. Gods and sages asked him to follow settled dharma, to control his senses and to take an oath (set out above in note 41). He was crowned by the gods and sages for the protection of the people. Viṣṇu himself established him saying 'Oh king, no man will go contrary to your order' and then Viṣṇu entered the king Pṛthu (verse 128) and it is therefore that this world since then bows to kings as to gods. In this account the oath administered to Pṛthu was so administered by the gods and sages and not by the people in the mass, nor does Pṛthu expressly promise anything to the people as such. Probably it was thought that the promise to the sages was impliedly a promise to the people in general. But the account, such as it is, rather appears to emphasize the divine origin of kingship.