Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c11.s2.t4.17

c11.s2.t4.17

The most important factor in the body-politic is the sovereign, to whom Śukra assigns an unusually high position. It is from him that all social and political usage flows. He safeguards the whole fabric of society. He is the source of the prosperity of this world. He is the quintessence of divinity. “The king is made out of the permanent elements of Indra, Vâyu, Yama, the Sun, Fire, Varuṇa, the Moon and Kuvera, and is the lord of both the immovable and movable worlds.” Like Indra, the god of gods, he protects; like Vāyu or air, the spreader of scents, he generates kind and harsh actions; like the sun, the destroyer of darkness, he crushes irreligion and establishes the true faith; like Yama, the god of death, he punishes offences; like Agni or fire, he purifies and enjoys all gifts; like Varuṇa, the god of rain, he sustains every one; like the delightful moon, he pleases everybody by his virtues and activities; like Kuvera, the god of wealth, he protects the treasure and possessions of the state. All these attributes must be assiduously cultivated by the sovereign, who, otherwise, is like the moon shorn of its lustre. The same idea is emphasised in a slightly different manner. The sovereign must “possess the attributes of father, mother, preceptor, brother, friend, Vaiśravaṇa or Kuvera and Yama.” Like a father, he must “endow his subjects with good qualities”; like a mother, he must pardon offences and nourish children; like a teacher, he must advise and guide his disciples; like a brother, he must take only his legal share from ‘the ancestral property’; like a friend, he must be the confidant and keeper of the subjects’ lives, families, property and interests; like Kuvera, he must give wealth, and like Yama punish the wicked.¹