Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c8.s4.4

c8.s4.4

But the oath was an empty formality, the gathering a mere pageant. The centre of gravity had finally shifted to the King's Council, the lineal descendant of the institution which had arisen in the Vedic age, and which Vâlmiki in the Epic Age glorified as the Council of Eight. The growing complexity of the social organism. and the vast extension of state-activity, demanded ceaseless deliberation and raised the Council to the highest position in the state. In Kautalya, it consisted primarily of ministers, but other “wise men” were to be invited as the occasion required. The number varied in practice as in theory. Probably generalising from experience, Manu counselled twelve, Brihaspati sixteen, and Usanas twelve. Their successor, Kautalya, only laid down that the Council should consist of as many members as the needs of the state rendered desirable. Roughly, the numerical strength varied from twelve to twenty. The Council was avowedly advisory. It had not much in common with modern parliamentary cabinets. But it is curious that in numbers it corresponded with the British Cabinet during the last century. The Council was generally presided over by the king.