The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c15.18

c15.18

The monarch should be "ambitious",⁴ according to the traditional *râja-nît* (state-craft), "to extend his dominions. No enemy is so insignificant as to be beneath his notice". A wise prince, as we read in the Persian resumé, should banish from his court all corrupt and designing men. The king's functions are described as being "similar to those of a gardener", who plucks up the thorns and briers and throws them on one side, whereby he beautifies his garden, and at the same time raises a fence which preserves his ground from the intrusion of strangers. Accordingly the king should "detach from the nobles their too numerous friends and dangerous dependents". An important maxim teaches, besides, that "in affairs of moment it is not advisable to consult with many".