Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c6.14

c6.14

methods of extending a dominion were fully explained. "The very extensive branch of learning, called punitive legislation" was there. The seven essential requisites of sovereignty were pointed out and their "waste, growth and harmony" exemplified. The "indications of princes" were noted and the behaviour towards counsellors was laid down. The qualifications of officers of government were prescribed. The administration of justice and "the extermination of the wicked" were dwelt upon.¹ Here is the whole subject of domestic administration and foreign policy, including diplomacy and war. It may all be designated as the science of statecraft. The theory of government proper is always treated in conjunction with other matters bearing on the state. It is conceived as part of a general scheme of all knowledge, secular and spiritual. The mythical history of the sciences is interesting. The hundred thousand lessons composed by Viṣṇu were first mastered by the god Śiva. But in view of the shortness of human life, he felt it necessary to abridge them into one-tenth of their original dimensions. The Vaiśālākṣa, as the abridgment was termed, was learnt by Indra who reduced it to one-half. The Bāhudantaka version was condensed to three thousand by Bṛhaspati. Finally, the Bārhaspatya edition was reduced to one-thousand by Kavi.² The stages probably mark the evolution of successive schools of thought.