The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c18.56

c18.56

There are a few other Jaina works of this period which incidentally touch on politics. Haribhadra's Dharmavindu for instance, which belongs to the ninth century A.D., inculcates loyalty and respect to the sovereign⁵ but, on the whole, these works do not reflect the working of institutions and must be passed over. In the tenth century A.D. Somadevasūri composed a remarkable work, Nitivākyāmṛtam, ‘nectar of political sayings’ in Sūtra form. It lacks originality of matter. The author cries ‘back to Kauṭalya’ and frequently draws also on the Mahābhārata, Vasiṣṭha, Manu and others. But the dexterity with which he leaves out some of their ideas and weaves the rest into a fine harmonious whole is in itself an index to the political temper of his age. The work was composed under the patronage of a big feudatory but it treats of politics in the usual style. It shows that the governmental machinery of a feudatory state approximated to the usual type. Knowledge is the prime requisite