Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c15.91

c15.91

Elsewhere, Kauṭalya, the Mahābhārata, Śukra and others counsel a feudatory to throw off the yoke when a favourable opportunity presents itself. It meant a state of warfare which was intensified and perpetuated by the constant attempts which states made to extend their dominion. It was perhaps dimly felt that the political unification of the country was desirable. At any rate from the Atharva Veda onwards the ideal of " universal " sovereignty was extolled with almost religious fervour. Even those who like Kauṭalya recognised that peace and industry lay at the root of prosperity¹ and paid homage of the idea of the Chakravartin. In pursuance of it aggression was condoned and unscrupulousness was reduced to a code. As a result, no real system of international law could arise. There are no treatises on inter-statal usage as such. There is not even a name for it in Sanskrit literature. Reflections on interstatal affairs form an appendage to treatises on government. The ethics of the battle-field are often conceived in the loftiest spirit and few writers counsel righteousness even in diplomacy.