The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c9.s2.t1.26

c9.s2.t1.26

Sabhâ Parvan Nârada suggests to Yudhiṣṭhira that conquest should be followed by earnest attempts at conciliation.¹ In the Aśvamedha Parvan a king depletes his treasury and then the feudatory princes swarm round him and cause him serious trouble.² On the other hand, it was sometimes felt that the suzerain power could not be all-sufficing and must allow feudatories to subsist. In the Āśramavāsi Parvan, Dhritarāṣṭra says that a powerful king should never seek to exterminate weak kings, for these do good to the world by cherishing the good and punishing the wicked.³