The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c10.s2.t2.4

c10.s2.t2.4

In the theory¹ of the constitution as expressed in the *Mahâbhârata*, *Kâmandakî-nîti*, *Śukra-nîti*, Agni-Purâṇa, and other treatises, the council is a very important estate of the realm. The councillors constitute, as Bharadvâja says, the "sole prop" of the state.² The ideal appears to have been realized to a certain extent in *Realpolitik*.