Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c13.50

c13.50

A work of an altogether different character is the three Śatakas or centuries of verses on love, resignation and policy, composed by Bhartṛihari who, according to the Chinese pilgrim Itsing, died about 650 A.D. He is reputed to have been a king and a Buddhist but, according to Itsing, he alternated seven times between worldly life and asceticism. In any case, he acquired an extraordinary amount of worldly wisdom and considerable insight into human nature. In his Hundred Precepts of Policy, however, he confined himself to everyday affairs of the world. His Nītiśataka falls under the category of general literature and not under that of Nītiśāstra. Only occasionally does he refer to the king or the state and that only from the individual's point of view. He illustrates the tendency accentuated in later ages, of Nīti or ‘policy’ to change its meaning and extend its sphere to all affairs. Bhartṛihari counsels the nursing of the realm, moderation in assessing taxes. Kings who are subject to paroxysms of rage will find themselves friendless.¹