The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c14.182

c14.182

Tiruvalluvar. His Tâmil ethical classic Muppâl or the Kural, as it is better known, is one of the most popular works south of the Godâvari and has set the standard of literary excellence throughout Tâmilakam.⁵ He insists on the same qualities in the king as Kauṭalya—fearlessness, liberality, wisdom, energy, vigilance, learning, bravery, virtue in general,⁶ freedom from pride, anger, lust, avarice and from low pleasures,⁷ capacity and readiness to hear unpalatable words.⁸ “The king who is without the guard of men who can rebuke him will perish even though there be no one to destroy him.”⁹ As in the Arthaśâstra, so in the Kural, ministers must be of good family and character, should not be ignorant and should not be strangers.¹⁰ The king must be accessible to the people, must personally conduct the administration, examine cases and give decisions.¹ The need for consultation is emphasised and the qualifications and duties of the chief officers of state are dwelt upon after the manner of the Arthaśāstras.² On ambassadors, the Kural reads like an echo of the Arthaśāstra.³ On forts,⁴ and on the army,⁵ the Kural is feeble but in line with the Arthaśāstra. Tiruvalluvar's sayings on espionage might, with slight alterations, pass for those of Kauṭalya. A spy and a book of laws are the eyes of a king.⁶ Through spies the king must ascertain daily and quickly what happens among all men.⁷ A spy is one who watches all men, to wit, those who are in the king's service, his relatives as well as his enemies.⁸ As in Kauṭalya, spies are to assume various disguises, such as those of ascetics.⁹ As in Kauṭalya again, the reports of one spy are to be checked by those of another.¹⁰ Honours are not to be conferred publicly on spies lest secrets be divulged.¹¹ Though avowedly an ethical treatise, the Kural when dealing with diplomatic or foreign affairs, betrays the same temper which made Kauṭalya's name a byeword for fraud and treachery. Its opportunism, its Machiavellian precepts are exactly parallel to the maxims of the Arthaśāstra.¹²