The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c9.s1.1

c9.s1.1

About the fifth century B.C. was composed a work which, though not included in Śruti or revelation, bears a strong affinity to Vedic literature in spirit, though not in style. The Bṛihaddevatâ, attributed to Śaunaka, is a summary of the deities and myths of the Ṛigveda.¹ It assumes the form of an epic but, as Macdonell shows, it does not borrow from the Mahâbhârata. It has one political reference of some interest. On the demise of a sovereign Riṣiṣeṇa, the subjects offer the sovereignty to his son Devâpi, who, however being afflicted with a skin disease, declines it, saying, "I am not worthy of the sovereignty; let Śaṃtânu, the younger prince, be your ruler."² It will appear that the kingship was avowedly hereditary, that the succession ordinarily went by the rule of primogeniture, that the subjects formally accepted a new king, that they even made a formal offer of the throne, that physical disability was a sufficient reason for departing from the ordinary rule of succession and that, next to the eldest prince, the younger had a presumptive title to the sceptre. Beyond this the Bṛihaddevatā throws no light on institutions.¹