Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c15.79

c15.79

In practice their influence would vary with the personal equation, but theory demands with striking unanimity that the king should not merely reign but rule day by day, year after year, so long as he occupied the throne. A limited monarchy in which the sovereign is only a dignified part of the constitution would have been incomprehensible to Hindu writers. They want the king to run the governmental machine himself, to exercise a personal supervision over all his servants and all his affairs. The Matsya Purāṇa counsels that the king should abandon all sensuality and devote all his energies to administration. The Viṣṇudharmottara echoes the same sentiment. The lawgivers are, of course, unanimous on the point. Kauṭalya and Śukra, among others, frame a detailed time-table for the king.