Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c4.t2.153

c4.t2.153

Of course, as a general rule, the deathbed instructions of a monarch regarding succession were followed, if he had left an heir to the throne. But we have instances which show that heredity was often not the sole support by which a prince could get on to the throne. He was thoroughly examined by the ministers and if found worthy and capable, then only he was declared fit for kingship. Thus the *Gāmaṇicaṇḍa Jātaka*⁶ relates how the ministers, after they had performed the funeral ceremonies with great eclat and made funeral gifts, met in the palace and told the prince that he, being rather young, could only be consecrated to the throne after he had satisfied their tests pertaining to the administration of justice. In another *Jātaka*,¹ a king of Benares leaves behind a stupid son, an idle lazy loafer. The Courtiers (*amacce*) hold a trial to test his worth before consecrating him to the throne. At the end they find that the prince was a blind fool: