Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c7.83

c7.83

**Succession.** The eldest son is to be preferred for the throne as a general rule (*aiśvaryaṁ jyesṭhabhāgī*). But Kauṭilya is emphatic that even the only son of the king should not be placed on the throne if he is devoid of education, discipline, and character (*na chaikaputramavinītaṁ rājye sthāpayet*). It is also stated that the king is justified in deporting the wicked son among his many sons. It is also pointed out that normally the father is the well-wisher of his sons. To solve the problem of succession among many sons, Kauṭilya contemplates the device of a joint-family-sovereignty, on the ground that such a collective sovereignty will be of invincible strength, while free from the evils caused by the defects of a single sovereign. Such a sovereignty will be permanent (*Kulasya vā bhavet rājyaṁ kulasaṁgho hi durjayaḥ | Arājavyasanābādhaḥ sāśvadāvasati kshitīm ||*)