Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c8.s5.58

c8.s5.58

The state had reached maturity. The priestly governess was dismissed. The state became a law unto itself, and emancipated itself from the restraints of morality as well. The existence of a number of states side by side, and the frequency of war, lead, almost of necessity, to a decline in inter-state morality. Necessity knows no law; and reason of state becomes the overmastering principle of conduct. As in medieval Italy, so in Ancient India, diplomacy too often became synonymous with fraud; while unprovoked aggression ceased to excite public disapproval. The cancer spread to the internal affairs of the state, and politics acquired unpleasant associations which have never