The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c15.59

c15.59

The supreme importance of the *prakriti* is never lost sight of in the speculations of Śukra. The king is a master only in the sense that he is to protect the people's interests and punish the offenders.³ Like Seneca the Stoic philosopher of the first century A.C. the Hindu theorist would accordingly exhort the ruler to remember his responsibility as "one out of all mankind who has been chosen to act in the place of the gods."⁴ The king is therefore not to enjoy any prerogatives or treat the people in any way he likes.