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Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c12: Chapter IX

Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c12

Language
English

Chapter IX

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the nineteenth century compiled a Nītiśāstra called Vivādārṇavasetu. They expressly draw upon the old Dharma Sūtras and Dharma Śāstras and deal with law and administration. The selection of passages and the prose comments thereon indicate how ancient doctrine was modified to suit modern conditions. But the tone of the Vivādārṇavasetu is still the same.¹ Under the patronage of the third prince of Pannā in Central India in the nineteenth century, Puruṣottama Bhaṭṭa composed a Nītimanoramā in Sanskrit² which acquired some popularity in that part of the country. It gives the old precepts and imitates the old style though not quite successfully. A commentary was also written on it. Luxuriant has been the crop of commentaries on the older Nīti works. The precepts of Vidura and Dhaumya were called from the Mahābhārata and subjected to analysis and explanation.³ Kāmandaka, Śukra, Bhoja—all came in for their share. The medieval vernacular literatures, however, are rather poor in Nīti. There, the word itself tends to lose its political associations and to be confined to ethics. In the seventeenth century the great Hindi poet Tulasī Dāsa in his Rāma Charita Mānasa uses it to denote filial or fraternal duties.

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¹ Vivādārṇavasetu (Nītiśāstra), Bombay, Vikrama era 1945. The names of its compilers were Bāleśwara, Kṛpā Rāma, Rāma Gopāla, Vīreśwara, Kṛṣṇachandra, Śrī Gaurīkānta, Kālāśaṅkara, Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇakeśava, and Sītā Rāma. The work was consulted by Rañjit Siṃha's officials in administering justice.

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² Nītimanoramā, Bharat Jivan Press, Benares, 1889.

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³ For instance, Viduranīti with Viṣamapadaṭippaṇa in the Kalānidhi Series, Bombay, 1890.

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