Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c6.36

c6.36

The king who, in Hindu political speculation, means the government or even the state, is then no ordinary mortal. He is a celestial being who, on the exhaustion of his merit, descends on earth, “conversant with the science of chastisement”³ he is Indra; he is Yama; he is Dharma. He sustains and supports everything. He assumes different forms.⁴ He becomes Agni, Āditya, Mṛtyu, Vaiśravaṇa and Yama on different occasions. Like Agni or fire, he burns sinful offenders with his fierce energy. Like Āditya or the sun, he observes the doings of all and promotes the general good. Like Mṛtyu or death, he destroys in his wrath hundreds of wicked men with their kinsmen. Like Yama or the god of Destiny, he restrains the wicked by severe punishments and favours the righteous with rewards. Again, like Vaiśravaṇa he rewards valuable services and fines offenders.⁵ “The very gods do not disregard a righteous king who is truly an eternal god.” A mortal who slights him loses the fruit of all his gifts, libations and offerings to the Pitṛis.¹ Every one who desires prosperity should worship the King as he himself should worship Indra.² The king is the foremost among men, as Agnihotra is the foremost among Vedic sacrifices, as the Gâyatrî is the foremost among metres and the ocean foremost among waters. People should bow before kings as before their preceptors.³ One who obeys and gratifies the king gains this world and the next. He who thinks of injuring the king comes to grief here and is consigned to hell hereafter. The king’s wrath is all-consuming. None, not even the king’s son or brother, companion or *alter ego* can make himself happy by disloyalty to the king. None should spread evil reports about him.⁴ The king is the heart of the people, their great refuge, their glory, their highest happiness.⁵ The king’s property is sacrosanct as nothing else is. One should turn away from it as from death itself. One should guard it as one’s own. He who appropriates it meets with destruction like “a deer touching upon poison,” and “sinks senseless into a deep hell of eternal gloom and infamy.”⁶ It is best to yield ready obedience to the king. The tree that bends easily has to suffer no torture. The wood that bends is not heated. So, men should bend before the powerful, which really means bending one’s head before Indra.⁷ It is, of course, essential, that the king should perform his functions well. If so, peace, order and security reign everywhere. Men become righteous and dutiful; instead of injuring, they serve one another. The members of the three higher castes are enabled to devote themselves to study and religion. Women, decked with every ornament, may fearlessly wander alone everywhere.¹