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Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c11.s2.t1: The Jaina Theory of Caste

Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c11.s2.t1

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The Jaina Theory of Caste

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Jaina account. government is not instituted by any definite contract. Pre-eminence on one side and need of guidance on the other establish a certain relationship. In course of time, as necessity demands, this informal relationship is converted into one of rulers and ruled. To complete the Jaina theory of caste, it is to be added that after Ṛiṣabhadeva, the last of the Kulakaras and first of the Tirthakaras, his son Bharata assumed the lordship of the world. He selected a number of persons from the three castes, grouped them into a fourth caste and called it Brāhmaṇa. Thus, all the castes were created by the early lords to meet the exigencies of life. Jainism could not attribute divine creation to them, but the Ādi Purāṇa makes a rather clumsy attempt to approximate its account to the orthodox Hindu version of the Puruṣasūkta of the Ṛigveda. There the castes had sprung from the different members of the body of the primeval Puruṣa. The Ādi Purāṇa declares that Ṛiṣabhadeva instituted the order of Kṣatriyas with weapons in his hands. Indicating the ways of travel, that is, of commerce, with his thighs, he brought the Vaiśyas into being. With his feet he created Śūdras. In his turn, Bharata, teaching the Śāstras with his mouth, created Brāhmaṇas.¹ It must be remembered that, according to Jaina theory, all these castes, including Brāhmaṇas, professed Jainism. It was much later that they fell into "falsehood." Bharata himself had had some ominous dreams, which were interpreted by his father Ṛiṣabha to mean that his order of Brāhmaṇas would, in the fourth age, renounce Jainism and formulate a cult sanctioning the slaughter of animals and various superstitions. The Ādi Purāṇa is at pains to demolish the privileges of ordinary Brāhmaṇas—those who did not follow Jainism. It declares that mere birth confers no superiority; as for merits, these Akṣaramlechchhas or barbarians who knew only words without their sense were devoid of all virtue. It was absurd to respect them or to exempt them from taxes. They should be treated and taxed like others.¹ Jaina kings should not accept any blessings from them or from any other non-Jainas.² The Purāṇa provides debating arguments to Brāhmaṇas instituted by Bharata whom the other Brāhmaṇas might taunt with lack of true Brāhmaṇahood. If they were told that their family was still the same as before, they should reply that Jinendradeva had produced them from his womb of knowledge and that they had sprung from the mouth of Brahma Bhagwāna. True, the descendants of Brahman were to be called Brāhmaṇas but the real Brahman was the Jaina lord. They had attained to respect through religious meditation and practices and could not be regarded as outcasts. While demolishing the claims of ordinary Brāhmaṇas, the Ādi Purāṇa invests the Jain Brāhmaṇas with all the traditional privileges of the former, the right to receive gifts, exemption from taxes and certain punishments. In spite of its protestant note, Jaina theory is assimilated to the Brahmanic tradition and falls into line with current beliefs.³ On governmental institutions, the Ādi Purāṇa has nothing original to contribute. Here, as elsewhere, the king must embody all virtues and unremittingly give his time, attention and energy to the ‘protection’ of people. The revenue

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¹ Ibid., XVI, 241–245, 246.

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¹ Ibid., XLI, 45—55; XLII, 181—192.

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² Ibid., XLIII, 17—30.

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³ Ibid., IXL, 108—113, 114—124, 127—142; XL, 192-193; IXL, 20—22, 13-14, 154—7, 137, 127—9; XL, 40, 139, 67, 63, 192.

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In its controversial zeal, the Ādi Purāṇa contradicts itself and implies that when Bharata instituted his order of Brāhmaṇas, there were ordinary Brāhmaṇas in existence. Elsewhere it declares that the first Brāhmaṇas were Jainas, could be realised like the milkman milking the cows without causing hardship to the people. Jainism declares Ahimsā or non-violence to be the essence of religion but Jaina political theory idealises universal conquest.¹

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¹ Ibid., IV, 106-198: XVI, 254: XXV-XXVI.

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The Uttara Purāṇa, as the composition of Guṇabhadrācārya is called, gives biographical sketches of the twenty-three Tirthakaras who followed Ṛiṣabha at long intervals of time and of Rāma, Kṛiṣṇa, Śreṇika, Jīvandhara and numerous other Jaina heroes. Besides suzerain princes, hundreds of feudatories appear in its pages. It inculcates profuse patronage of learning by the government but its political ideas are few and old.² Another work, Harivaṁśa Purāṇa, ascribes the foundation of all institutions to Ṛiṣabha. The Padma Purāṇa adds nothing new. In the 12th century Hemachandra reiterated the theory of Jinasena in his Laghu Arhannīti. He deals with the duties and qualifications of the king and ministers, the policy they ought to pursue, the judicial system they ought to establish, and so on. The Laghu Arhannīti draws freely upon its Brahmanical predecessors. The Jaina Rāmāyaṇa by Hemachandrācārya gives a long Jaina version of Rāma's story but does not modify the political ideas imbedded in Vālmīki.³ Nor is Mahāsenācārya's Pradyumna Charita more valuable. It merely reproduces the traditional ideas on government.⁴ In a work of the 12th century A.D., Lomaprabhâchârya’s Kumârapâla Prabodha, a king is gradually converted to Jainism and led into an ideal manner of life and government by Hemachandra. From what he does appears the author’s idea of what a government ought to do. The king interdicted meat-eating, animal slaughter, drinking, prostitution, plundering and other sins. He erected Jaina temples, monasteries and alms-houses. He spent a good deal of his time in religious exercises but still attended to the business of the state, heard appeals and passed judgment on them.¹ It is interesting that the Jainas have their Purâṇas which betray deep Brâhmaṇic influence. Some of them are modelled on the Ādi Purâṇa and echo its doctrines but few of them make any fresh contribution to political thought.

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² The Uttara Purāṇa forms part of Ādi Purāṇa and is published along with it by Lala Ram Jaina in the Syādvāda Granthamālā. For political reflections, see Ch. LXXV, 105-115, 214-220.

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³ The Jaina Rāmāyaṇa, by Hemachandrācārya, edited by Jagannath Shukla, Calcutta, Vikrama Era 1980. Laghu Arhannīti by Hemachandra (Ahmedabad). Harivaṁśa Purāṇa, Canto IX, 25-70.

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⁴ Pradyumna Charita by Mahāsenācārya, edited by Manohar Lal Shastri and Ram Prasad Shastri, in the Manik Chand Digambar Jain Granthamālā, No. 8, Bombay, Vikrama Era 1978.

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¹ Kumârapâla Prabodha by Lomaprabhâchârya, edited by Muniraj Jainavijaya, Gaekwad’s Oriental Series, No. XIV, Baroda, 1920. It was composed about 1195 A.D.

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Nor are the Jaina Sûtras of much use for the purpose. They are concerned far too much with eternity and salvation to trouble themselves with this ephemeral existence. Where they do touch on government, it is in a rather left-handed way. For instance, the ninth lecture in the Uttarâdhyâyana Sûtras² of the Śvetâmbara sect records a dialogue between Indra, the king of gods, disguised as a Brâhmaṇa and Nami who had just received enlightenment and renounced his family and dominion of Mithilâ. Indra’s remarks indicate what was expected of a Kṣatriya monarch. He should defend his town by erecting walls, gates and battlements, digging moats and constructing those warlike instruments which were called Śataghnīs. “Bring into suction all princes who do not acknowledge you." Internal tranquillity should be established by punishing thieves and robbers, cut-purses and burglars. The royal treasure, jewellery, wardrobe and conveyances should be multiplied. But Nami argues for the superior peace, strength and joy which attend a life of spirituality and renunciation. Indra himself ends by throwing off the disguise and showering praise on Nami.¹ To the student of governmental theory, the Sûtras as a whole are rather disappointing. There is, however, one Jaina work in Sûtra form which deserves detailed notice.

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² The Uttarâdhyâyana has been edited by Jarl Carpentier in the Archives d’Etudes Orientales. An English translation has been made by Jacobi in Vol. XLV of the Sacred Books of the East.

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¹ Uttarâdhyâyana Sûtra, Adhyâyana IX, pp. 95-101. Jacobi's translation, pp. 35-41.

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In the tenth century, Somadeva Sûri summed up the current political wisdom in a remarkable book called the Somadeva Sûri. 'Nectar of Political Sayings.' In spite of the Sûtra form the very aome of concision. Somadeva has managed to combine extreme brevity with considerable perspicacity of expression. In one of his works called Yaśastilaka Champû he expounds the orthodox tenets of Jainism in a masterly fashion. But as a politicist he follows the universal tradition. The greater part of 'nectar' might as well have sprung from a Brahmanic brain. The fact was that during the last millennium political thought had cut out certain channels partly on secular ground and, whatever its source, it ran almost automatically into them. In an age which politically was rather decadent, Somadeva cries 'back to Kauṭalya.' He mentions the author of the Arthaśâstra more than once. He often borrows the thoughts and sometimes the very expression of his master. Frequently he taps other sources and refers to Manu, Vasiṣṭha, Bhâguri, Bhīṣma, Bhâradvâja, Viśâlâkṣa and other political writers, but his mastery of literary craftsmanship enables him to weave all his various collections into a fine, harmonious whole which has all the appearance of unity and originality. And it must be admitted that here and there Somadeva does alight on a thought that is new and often gives a striking form to what had been crudely put long before. Altogether, he has a freshness of outlook which places him in a class by himself.

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The work opens with a salutation which is capable of more than one meaning but which most probably refers to the author's teacher who bore a name something like his own. It is significant that the first chapter though devoted to religion and morality, should dispense with the usual divine commemoration and start with homage to a worldly master. It testifies to the process of secularisation that had gone so far in political science. The first aphorism offers a salutation to the state which is the source of religion or morality, wealth or success, enjoyment or happiness. It would delight the heart of a Hegelian to find that a thousand years before the German idealist, the Indian writer extolled the State as the *summum bonum* of human life. Religion itself is defined in an ambiguous manner which the ecclesiastic or the secularist may interpret as he likes. It is the door to success and welfare, whether of this world or of the next,—we are not told. The precepts which follow relate indiscriminately to mundane and spiritual affairs.¹ A r . . 'er of maxims, moral and worldly, applicable to various walks of human life, form a sort of preface to the real science of politics.¹ Then we are told in all seriousness that the real brute on earth is an ignoramous. Knowledge is the prime requisite in affairs. Anarchy is better than the rule of an ignoramous. It will be remembered that the Buddhist works, the epics, Kauṭalya, Purāṇas and the lawgivers alike had descanted on anarchy, as the most terrible of all possible contingencies. Somadeva departs from tradition and prefers absence of government to uninstructed rule. For, he explains, no calamity is so serious, so ruinous, as a perverse king. On the same principle, a prince, howsoever well-born, should not be installed as heir-apparent unless he is otherwise qualified for the great trust. A real king is he who is the repository of all the merits that are extolled by wise men.² Every prince must cultivate the four branches of learning, scriptures, professional knowledge, philosophy and politics. Besides their intrinsic value, they serve to discipline the mind and character. But for this training, a king will perish like a goadless elephant.³ There could be only one substitute for study; that was the society of the elect. Proximity to the waters imparts a certain delicacy to the shade of trees.

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¹ Nītivākyāmṛita, pub. in the Manikchand Digambar Jain Granthamālā Series, pp. 1—26. Somadeva Sūri was an Āchārya of the Devasaṃgha, one of the four orders of the Digambar sect of the Jainas. His teacher was Namideva who had been a disciple of Yaśodeva. Somadeva was noted as a great dialectician, a poet of considerable merit and master of Jaina theology and tradition. From Jaina literature it appears that the Devasaṃgha was confined to the south. Somadeva was probably a southerner. His Yaśastilaka Champū too bears traces of southern influence. In spite of his Jaina persuasion Somadeva accepts the authority of Vedas and Smṛitis in worldly affairs. He expressly says that much in his Yaśastilaka.

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¹ Somadeva Sūri, Nītivākyāmṛta, pp. 26–50.

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² Ibid., 56-57.

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³ Ibid., 60-1.

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As to the position of the king, there is no ambiguity. He is a great god. He bows only to his ancestors and teachers: all else have to salute him. It is difficult to change his resolutions but a king should always be willing to receive advice, and ministers should be prepared to offer sound advice. Better to die than to offer unwholesome counsel. A king should always try to get at sinners and criminals, at all those who are obstacles to the happiness of his people. He must not be all mercy for that is to invite contempt and to fail in the prime duty of protection. It may be good for saints to pardon wrong-doers, but certainly it is not right for a king. As a rule, contemptible is the man whose anger and favour lead nowhere. If you can't avenge yourself, you are dead rather than alive. Who will not trample on the ashes of cinders? Indeed, if a king does not repress the wicked and oppressors, he will find his office but a door to hell. Here let the king remember that he must not make friends with wicked people. That is the road to disaster. Nor must he confide in women. They can't keep secrets. If you give them your secrets, you are preparing for death. Again and again, Somadeva recurs to the all-important task of protection. 'Tis a bad king who can't protect his subjects. If a king cares well for his subjects, he receives one-sixth of the fruits of their merits, even from the ascetics.

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Protection is not to be understood in a negative sense. It has a positive side—the promotion of prosperity. The foundation of all prosperity is agriculture. Happy is the man who has a well-watered piece of land and abundance of cattle. Cattle and beasts of burden should form one of the principal objects of the care of the state. It is assumed that commerce must be regulated by the Government. Limits must be set to profiteering. There are, in reality, no greater thieves on earth than tradesmen. If they charge too much for their wares, the balance over the just price must be confiscated.

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Injustice is never to be tolerated, since it ruins all. Large, indeed, is the category of those who hinder the prosperity of the people. Thieves and robbers, state surveyors and evaluators, foresters and guards, state officers, hoarders and profiteers, all are mentioned in the same breath. If the king commands prestige and exercises a certain amount of sternness, he can render them harmless. This punishment, this maintenance of order, is one of the chief topics of political science. Its importance is enormous. But punishment by a king ought to be like the ministration of medicine by a physician. It should never be prostituted to monetary ends. It is a bad king, and a bad physician who eagerly looks out for disorders with a view to selfish gratification. Unjust punishment recoils on the head of the monarch.

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The difficult and complicated duties attached to the office of the king demand constant counsel with ministers. Great, indeed, has always been the power of ministers. Witness, for instance, Kauṭalya who installed Chandragupta in place of the rightful ruler of Magadha. A king must exercise the utmost discretion in the selection of his councillors. They might be Brâhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas or Vaiśyas, but they must not be foreigners. Love of one’s own country is the highest and most tenacious of all prejudices. The ministers must be endowed with real character, for lack of principles vitiates even all personal merits and qualities. They must also be well-born, since an ill-bred person is proof against all shame and is capable of any misdeed. Ministers, again, must be free from all carnal passions. To possess a sensual minister is like riding a mischievous elephant. Ministers must be reliable and courageous. What is the use of one who can’t stand by you in adversity? Besides moral qualifications, ministers must be endowed with practical knowledge. They must grasp clearly and firmly what is to the interest of the state. All their best wishes would come to nothing unless they were joined to a real knowledge of affairs. They must have a penetrating insight not only into civil but also into military problems.

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It is necessary that the king should preface every enterprise with full deliberation. Counsel or deliberation has five elements—the way to commence an enterprise, taking stock of men, money and other elements of strength, the plan of time and country, the removal of obstacles and attainment of success. Here counsel is synonymous with enterprise. Or it may be said that deliberation conduces to the knowledge of what is unknown, gives certitude to what is known, reinforces what is certain, clears what is obscure and completes the knowledge of that which is imperfectly known.

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Deliberation on all affairs of high moment requires the utmost secrecy. That is essential to success. Do not hold counsel in places which echo to human voices and do not consult those whose relations you have injured. Let nobody, unless expressly invited, stay at the time of deliberation. It is on record that counsel was sometimes betrayed by parrots. Celerity in execution is a safeguard of secrecy. Put your resolutions as soon as possible into action. Action, indeed, is the very essence of counsel. Mere knowledge of medicine does not cure the disease.

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Ministers should always offer wholesome counsel. Let them not flatter or mislead their master. The king on his part should take their advice, for it is a bad king who neglects the counsels of his ministers, Such a king will The Importance of Ministers. soon find himself overwhelmed by foes. His obstinacy will plunge him into ruin. The king should never be satisfied with a single minister. The latter tends to autocracy and the king may find himself bewildered in times of difficulty. Nor should there be two ministers for both may conspire and ruin the kingdom. The number should be three, five or seven. It is essential that they should work in harmony. If they are jealous of one another, they will make a mess of it. On the other hand, if they co-operate in wisdom, they will be pillars to the state. Here let it be emphasised once more that ministers should be no fools. What can a blind man see? How can the blind lead the blind? It may be that the counsel of fools accidentally leads to success but it is a dangerous way. A fool, after all, is only a fool. So too, a knave is a knave. The poisonous snake may wind the neck of the god Mahâdeva but it is poisonous all the same.¹

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¹ Ibid., 62-63, 62-66, 76-80, 84-90, 93-95, 98-100, 102-104, 106-125, 127-135.

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The Number of Ministers.

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No military control of policy. There is another precaution necessary in deliberations of state. Military officers are not to be consulted in the determination of policy. They are only too ready to clutch at war. Strife is the law of their being. They are not to have a hand in the formulation of policy lest they involve the state into needless wars. Besides, if they are placed in control of civil policy, they may grow dangerously proud and powerful.² So, according to Somadeva, the policy of the state is never to be governed by the army.

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² Ibid., 136-137.

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In conducting negotiations, the king and councillors alike should observe gravity and courtesy. Politeness Negotiations. enables one to achieve the deadliest objects. The peacock, endowed with a sweet voice, makes short work of snakes. It is, again, mere folly to speak too much, or disclose too much. Above all, one should not lose one’s temper or presence of mind. Fortitude in adversity constitutes real greatness.¹ A yet greater danger to the state is popular indignation which should never be roused.²

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¹ Ibid., 138—156.

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² Ibid., 157.

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So much about the ministers and their qualifications and responsibilities. Now, a word as to the Royal Priest.

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Priests. Minister and priest are like father and mother to the king. Their advice is not to be transgressed. The priest is instrumental in warding off natural as well as supernatural calamities. Draughts or floods, beasts or pests, epidemics, ghosts or goblins—all were to be controlled by the mighty power of the priest. One of his most important duties was the training of the prince. The prince must be humble and obedient to his teachers.³

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³ Ibid., 160—163.

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Next to the Royal Priest in importance is the Commander of the Forces. His qualifications are a counsel of perfection. He must be above all sensual gratification, above all temptation. To all military talents he must add unswerving loyalty and devotion to his master.⁴

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⁴ Ibid., 169.

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The Commander-in-Chief.

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The Ambassador was another notable functionary. In a period when states were small and negotiations for peace and alliance of frequent occurrence, he was ubiquitous. A definite code of diplomatic etiquette had been evolved. An envoy was not to be molested on any account. He might talk as he liked but his life was sacrosanct.⁵

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⁵ Ibid., 170-171.

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The Ambassador.

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It was otherwise with the spies. There was hardly a profession which involved such risks. Yet the number of spies employed by each government was legion. Broadly speaking, they fell into two classes, those who busied themselves with the misdeeds of officials and the opinions of subjects and those who sought to probe the designs and plans of rival monarchs. In either case, they put on various disguises and political writers classify them on that basis. There were ascetics and scholars, sorcerers and jugglers and foresters and snake-charmers, singers and dancers, tradesmen and artisans, astrologers and mathematicians, physicians and soldiers, and so forth. They must be paid adequately. In their turn, they must show assiduity in the discharge of their duties. They are the eyes of the monarch.¹

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¹ Ibid., 172-4.

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In the performance of their various and difficult vocations, the king and his officers must constantly think. "Thinking" is the title of the fifteenth chapter in Somadeva's work. Every problem, every detail, must be closely examined. Rashness opens the door to endless troubles.² A danger, graver still, lies in addiction to pleasure. Lust and drink, game and gambling, slothfulness, all are fatal to success. Rudeness and discourtesy are other vices to be strictly avoided.³ On the other hand, the monarch must assiduously practise kindness and generosity. He should cause as little disappointment as possible. Let him not resemble the salt waters of the sea which, though vast, cannot quench human thirst.⁴

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² Ibid., 175-6

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³ Ibid., 177-79.

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⁴ Ibid., 180-184.

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Reverting to the principal officers of state, Somadeva remarks again that, single-handed, one can do nothing.

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Officers. A number of officers are essential for administrative efficiency. Income, expenditure, royal safety and military efficiency are their chief concerns. A fool or a knave should never be appointed to a position of high responsibility. But it is equally risky to appoint a friend. It is too expensive in money and in friendship alike. Fitness should be the only criterion for office.¹

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¹ Ibid., 185—190.

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The country comes next as an element of sovereignty. Its prosperity in grain, cattle and wealth, is the prime concern of statesmanship. So far as possible, military mobilisation should be avoided at harvest time. Well-nourished and well-protected, the earth is like the divine cow which bestows everything to the heart's content. Oppression, on the other hand, converts it into a desert and dries up the sources of revenue.² As means of defence, forts are extremely important. They fall into two classes, natural and artificial. A country which lacks fortification is an object of contempt to everybody. Like a bird lost at sea, a king who has no forts to fall upon is shelterless in adversity.³

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² Ibid., 190—197.

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³ Ibid., 198—201.

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The treasury is another indispensable element of sovereignty. It is the very life of kings. A king who has no money unjustly robs his subjects and then the kingdom is emptied. The fact is that it is the treasure and not the person of the king who is the real sovereign. A penniless fellow is

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The Country.

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The Treasury.

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deserted even by his wife, not to speak of others. Only he who has wealth is reckoned great and well-born. What is the greatness of a lake that has no water? ¹

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¹ Ibid., 202-206.

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The army is the next element of support and, in fact, of sovereignty. In the army, the elephant is the most important branch. Victories in war are, in reality, the victories of elephants. A single elephant can attack and withstand a thousand soldiers. The training of elephants must be carefully attended to. Untrained elephants are not only a burden on the exchequer but bring death and disaster to their own side. Elephants, duly trained, are particularly useful in siege, assault and bridging.² The cavalry is, *par excellence*, the mobile force. Its dexterity is as useful for defence, as for offence, in war. Nine different kinds of horses are mentioned.³ Chariots are used by bowmen who carry all before them. Once the charioteers have made a real attack the enemy is easily overpowered.⁴ In all warfare, the greatest reliance is to be placed on forces which are bound by ties of sentiment to the sovereign. Mercenaries are not of much use. Everywhere a soldier puts forth his best efforts not from prospects of monetary gain as for the honour expected from his master. All the same, a ruler should be careful and punctual in paying his forces. What is the use of a cloud which does not rain in time?⁵

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² Ibid., 207-9.

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³ Ibid., 209-11.

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⁴ Ibid., 211-12.

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⁵ Ibid., 214-15.

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The army must, of course, always be in a state of readiness but successful diplomacy is by no means less important. An effort should be made to secure as many allies as possible.⁶

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⁶ Ibid., 216-220.

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Turning to the king, Somadeva tells us that the safety of the monarch is the safety of the state. The people may be prosperous, but if they have no government they will come to no good. A king, however, is to be protected not only from death but also from temptations. He must not indulge in sensual gratification. While on this subject, Somadeva in true ascetic fashion calumniates woman as the source of evil and as a bundle of craft and hypocrisy, he becomes almost unreadable.¹ He displays better sense when treating of the training of princes. These must respect and obey their parents as their gods. If they disregard their parents even in thought, they will fall from prosperity.² At this stage, Somadeva leaves aside politics in the strict sense of the term and gives a number of ethical and household precepts for the use of all.³

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¹ Ibid., 221-245.

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² Ibid., 246-250.

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³ Ibid., 251-271.

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Reverting to his proper subject he warns governments against the dangers of over-taxation. Taxation must be adjusted to the resources of the people. The expenditure must not exceed the income.⁴ But these few maxims are followed again by maxims on custom, worldly success and prosperity.⁵ Somadeva's stores of political wisdom are now pretty nearly exhausted. When he returns to politics, he has only a little to say.

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⁴ Ibid., 271.

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⁵ Ibid., 272-294.

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A king must carefully select his courtiers. Courtiers should never indulge in greed and favouritism. They must always offer wholesome counsel to their sovereign. All in power or influence should refrain from oppression. Oppression is the source of all trouble and dissensions. Of course, this does not mean that the wicked are not to be severely punished. Nor does it mean that the king should not keep up a real prestige. If there is no prestige, the government will come into contempt.¹

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¹ Ibid., 295-305.

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In law-courts, a Brāhmaṇa is to take the oath by touching his sacred thread or a piece of gold; a Kṣatriya by touching a weapon, a jewel, or the ground, etc., a Vaiśya by touching his ear or gold; a Śūdra by touching milk or corn. The idea, we are told, is that the form of the oath should pertain to the occupation of the person concerned.²

c11.s2.t1.79

² Ibid., 305-306.

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