Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c11.s5.26

c11.s5.26

On foreign policy, Śukra has nothing new. As ever, the foreign affairs of a Hindu state were dominated by two salient facts. There were numerous states and they stood close to each other. A king should, therefore, strive to get as many allies as possible. He must never be harsh towards them. Nor should he play them off against one another. On the other hand, he should assiduously attempt to cultivate the goodwill of subjects oppressed by a hostile king. He must try to detach them from their allegiance to their sovereign. In foreign affairs, force and fraud are allowed. "One should wait guardedly like the cat and the fowler and by creating confidence extirpate the enemy whose soul has been ruined by vices." While discussing the subject of foreign policy, Śukra lays down a maxim for domestic administration. "Subjects should be so governed that they can be neither too powerless nor too powerful."¹