Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c6.48

c6.48

Besides a strong government, there is another condition on which the stability of the social order depends. The Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya, that is, the priestly and political powers, must work in harmony. The king must always respect the Brāhmaṇas. Fire has sprung from water, iron from stone and the Kṣatriya from the Brāhmaṇa. The three products can exert their force on everything else but if they come into conflict with their progenitors, their force is at once neutralised.² It is the “great intelligence” and “sound counsels” of a well-born Brāhmaṇa, endowed with wisdom and humility, that guide the king in every matter and lead him to prosperity. The Brāhmaṇa points out the duties which the king is to observe. If the Kṣatriya and the Brāhmaṇa fight each other, ruin overtakes the kingdom. If Brāhmaṇas abandon Kṣatriyas, education, prosperity and sacrifices disappear. Kṣatriyas who abandon Brāhmaṇas become impure in blood and assume the nature of robbers. The Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya are connected with each other by nature. Either protects the other. The Kṣatriya is the cause of the Brāhmaṇa’s growth and the Brāhmaṇa is the cause of the Kṣatriya’s growth. If they help each other, they attain to great prosperity. If their traditional friendship gives way, a confusion sets over everything.³ Again, it is emphasised that the Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya have a common origin. The power of penances and mantras was bestowed upon Brāhmaṇas and the might of arms and weapons upon Kṣatriyas. If they apply their forces separately, they can never uphold the world. If kings are supported by powers of both descriptions, they can well protect their subjects, that is, perform the real functions of government. Between themselves, the Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya are the rightful owners of everything in the universe. But the virtuous king should yield precedence to Brāhmaṇas and rule the kingdom by their aid. Then he can subjugate the whole earth and achieve transcendent fame.¹ It is, however, understood that the Brāhmaṇas are not actually to run the governmental machine. Once the experiment had been tried and disaster had ensued. Having slain the Kṣatriyas, Paraśu Rāma made a gift of the earth to Kaśyapa who presented it to the Brāhmaṇas. But under Brahmanic rule, the strong began to oppress the weak; order disappeared; anarchy set in; the earth sank to the lowest depths. In this dire predicament, the earth begged Kaśyapa for a Kṣatriya king. The few surviving Kṣatriyas were sought out and appointed to the task of government.² The Hindu politi-cists think in terms of caste but an analysis of their ideas makes it plain that they emphasise the need of the union of political authority with the strength of learning and legal equipment. The Brāhmaṇas were the repositories of wisdom. It was essential to harness their intellectual power in the service of the administration. They alone could be expected to hold aloft the torch of principles and guide the formulation of policy. This is what explains the insistence of the Mahābhārata and other political treatises on the necessity of every king having a learned priest. Indeed, we are told that the king should first instal the priest in his office and then arrange his own coronation.¹ It is the priest who dispels all the invisible fears of the subjects. If the preservation and growth of the kingdom depend on the king, the preservation and growth of the king himself depend on the priest.²