Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c6.123

c6.123

The promotion of the material interests of the people is the essential duty of the government. It is the task of the government to make the earth habitable and comfortable for men. It was an early king who had levelled the surface of the earth, removing the rocks and rocky mountains which lay all around.² The government should reclaim land for cultivation and fertilise it. Agriculture should not be wholly dependent on rain. Large tanks and lakes must be excavated all over the kingdom at suitable places. Agriculturists should not want seed or food. Loans of seed grain should be granted to them. Measures should be taken against fire, snakes, and other destructive beings. Diseases should be provided against. The risk from Râkṣasas should be guarded against.³ The development of means of communication was one of the duties of the government. The king should cause wide roads to be laid out and shops and watering stations to be erected at proper distances.¹ Everywhere in the kingdom robbers must be exterminated. Upon such foes the rod of chastisement should fall like death. No one should be pardoned from caprice.² If thieves are not brought to book, it is the duty of the king to compensate the owners of stolen property. On occasions like the Râjasûya, boundless charity was expected of the king. On the king depends the prosperity of the realm. Yudhiṣṭhira’s justice brought rains and plenty. The Mahâbhârata inculcates charity on the part of the king but interdicts all begging on the part of the people, except in days of distress. If every one abstained from work and lived by begging, the world would certainly come to an end. It was robbers who generally gave money to beggars. Neither beggars nor robbers are to be tolerated.³