Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c5.26

c5.26

Harmony within the realm was strongly insisted on but Hindu thinkers seldom rose to the idea of a harmony among the different states. The country was parcelled out among numerous states, which, in the absence of natural frontiers, were frequently at war with one another. In the Atharvaveda, one of the most cherished ambitions of a king is to conquer enemies. Victory in war is the motive of innumerable prayers. For instance, a long prayer to Arbudi and Nyarbudi for assistance in battle breathes a strong, jingoistic feeling. Here is visible a strain of thought which was to receive elaborate development in a subsequent literature.²