Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c8.s1.12

c8.s1.12

Rats, occasionally a serious menace to agriculture, were to be destroyed by certain chemical mixtures, and by letting loose cats and mongooses. But, with that love of paradox in which over-wise people so often indulge, rats were to be worshipped on new and fullmoon days. Ascetics and priests performed auspicious ceremonies. In similar fashion was the danger from locusts, birds, and insects to be warded off.¹ So, too, snakes could be destroyed wholesale. Medical science was encouraged to find some antidote against snake-bite. The people also resorted to charms, incantations and ceremonies of all sorts against the danger. Snakes themselves were to be worshipped. Kautalya did not inculcate the worship of tigers; but mountains were to be propitiated to keep them in safe custody. Ferocious beasts were even more numerous in those days than they are now. Bands of hunters, armed with various weapons, should patrol the forests with packs of hounds, and kill tigers in large numbers. Carcasses of cattle or calves, inoculated with juice of *madana* or *kodrava* plants, should be strewn about to give short shrift to the brutes. A reward of twelve *paṇas* was offered for a tiger's head.² It was the imperative duty of every one to rush to the rescue of a man in the clutches of a tiger. Those who lacked the heart or the courage to face the risk should be fined twelve *paṇas*. Similar measures should be adopted against other ferocious beasts, birds, and crocodiles.³