The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c9.s4.t3.9

c9.s4.t3.9

Necessarily, therefore, in the third place, *mukhyas* i. e. heads, presidents or representatives of the corporations constituted, like councillors of the king, an important “estate” of the realm. At the coronation of kings, e. g. in the *Râmâyaṇa*, gilds had the right to the sprinkling or anointing ritual. Sometimes gild members occupied high state offices, as we know from the *Jâtakas*.⁶ Socially, on the whole, they were “peers” of the king. As poets of the *Mahâbhârata*⁷ have declared the royal ideal of manliness, kings were ashamed to return to their homeland if they were defeated in battles. For, “what would the elders of the gilds say to me”, argued the kings, “and what should I speak to them in reply?” The moral control exercised by gilds on state policies may be presumed to have been of a high order. Undisputed, therefore, was their influence on public opinion.