Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c12.6

c12.6

Kauṭilya emphasises the conception that the king stands for *Daṇḍa* which upholds *Dharma*, the law that governs the four castes and *āśramas* or stages of life, and also the customs of the people based on it. It is this *Rāja-dharma* which protects all other *dharmas* that will decline without this protection (*Chaturvarṇāśramasyāyaṁ lokasyāchārarakshaṇāt naśyatāṁ sarvadharmāṇāṁ rājadharmaḥ pravartakaḥ*). Thus *Daṇḍa*, which enforces Dharma equally among all, whether son, or enemy, and is no respecter of persons, will ensure happiness in this world and pave its way for the next world too (*Daṇḍo hi kevalo lokaṁ paraṁ chemaṁ cha rakshati Rājñā putre cha śatruu cha yathādoshaṁ samaṁ dhṛitaḥ*).