Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c8.s6.5

c8.s6.5

Brihaspati exalts Daṇḍanīti or the science of government to the rank of the supreme and only science for those who are concerned with it. It is also very ancient, almost eternal. Unlike many other Hindu writers, Brihaspati believes that they in the Kṛita or Golden Age were versed in it.¹ It stands by itself and need not always be tied to the chariot wheels of religion. Brihaspati declares unequivocally that the precepts of religion are not to be followed if they are opposed to usage.² In a later aphorism he again remarks that what is at variance with custom is not to be practised.³ Where it is a matter of acquiring anything one should follow the Lokāyata system which stresses worldly gain and enjoyment.⁴ Elsewhere, indeed, the paths of the Lokāyatas, like those of Kṣapaṇakas and Buddhists, are condemned as fraught with fatal dangers.⁵ But the tone of the work, on the whole, is secular.