Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c13.75

c13.75

To the eighth or ninth century belongs a famous princely author, Viśâkhadatta, who wrote a political drama, Mudrâ-râkṣas.³ A series of adroit manoeuvres culminates in the replacement of the Nanda by the Mauryan dynasty on the throne of the Pâṭaliputra. Kauṭalya plays a leading part. The plot, however, turns more on secret intrigue and espionage than on statecraft. Here the sovereign position is a source of great uneasiness to the monarch. It is difficult for him to attend to his own interests as well as to those of others. The king chafes under the control of his minister Chûṇakya. When both the king and the minister are very powerful, says the dramatist, the goddess of royalty deserts one of them. Sovereignty, so to say, is indivisible. A king who entrusts everything to his minister will be like a babe when separated from him.¹