Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c15.124

c15.124

The importance attached to diplomatic agents is to be explained partly by the preference which writers occasionally display for diplomacy in war. Manu, for instance, holds “that a king should try to conquer his foes by conciliation, by (well-applied) gifts and by creating dissension, used either separately or conjointly, never by fighting. For when two (princes) fight, victory and defeat in the battle are, as experience teaches, uncertain; let him, therefore, avoid an engagement.”⁴ Kāmandaka also prefers victories through gifts and counsels, that is, diplomatic skill.⁵ Śukra inclines above all to a policy of divide and rule.⁶