The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c15.200

c15.200

The four ordeals mentioned here are the same as occur in the law-books. To revert to the court scene, when Cârudatta is adjudged guilty of murder, he is at once taken into custody by the guardsmen. But the final order on his fate comes from the king, Pâlaka, who decrees, “Inasmuch as he killed Vasantasenâ for such a trifle, these same jewels shall be hung above his neck, the drum shall be beaten, he shall be conducted to the southern burying ground, and there impaled.” The king adds “whoever else shall commit such a crime, shall be punished with a like dreadful doom” (p. 151). The details of the theatrical setting and the terrible punishment have some relation to facts. The execution scene where the temporary tragedy reaches its height (p. 153) may not be equally realistic but is none the less interesting. Act IX speaks of treacherous ministers who involve both princes and peoples in promiscuous ruin. In the tenth and last Act misrule and oppression lead to a revolution resulting in the death of the king.