History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.76

v4.c62.76

According to Mr. J. N. Figgis in his book 'The divine right of kings' (1934) pp. 5–6, the theory of the Divine Right of kings in its completest form involved the following propositions: (1) monarchy is a divinely ordained institution; (II) hereditary right is indefeasible i. e. the right acquired by birth and descending by the law of primogeniture cannot be forfeited through any acts of usurpation, or by any incapacity of the heirs or by any act of deposition; (III) kings are accountable to God alone, i. e. a limited monarchy is a contradiction in terms; (IV) non-resistance and passive obedience are enjoined by God i. e. in any circumstances resistance to the king is a sin and leads to damnation and that when the king issues a command directly contrary to God's law, the latter is to be obeyed and also all penalties attached to the breach of the king's law are to be patiently borne. This theory was very much to the fore in the 16th and 17th centuries when in Europe theology and politics were in close union.