Yasastilaka and Indian Culture

SR No.: 001609
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Krishnakant Handiqui
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur
Publication Year: 1968
Total Pages: 566
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Story, Literature, & Culture
File Size: 16 MB

Page 120

5. YAŚASTILAKA AS A SOCIO-POLITICAL RECORD
101
It may also be noted in this connection that the verse 3. 24 quoted above is reminiscent of the following verses of Kautilya'sArthasāstra II.9:
मत्स्या यथान्तःसलिले चरन्तो ज्ञातुं न शक्याः सलिलं पिबन्तः ।
युक्तास्तथा कार्यविधी नियुक्ता ज्ञातुं न शक्या धनमाददानाः ॥ अपि शक्या गतिआतुं पततां खे पतत्रिणाम् । न तु प्रच्छन्नभावानां युक्तानां चरतां गतिः ॥
Somadeva opines that the ministers of a king should be men of pure lives, loyal and well-versed in the science of government: they should be men of birth and natives of the country. A king should not depend upon a single minister, the prosperity of one doing so being compared to a creeper climbing a tree with a single branch. Somadeva says in Yasastilaka 3. 230 :
एकामात्ये महीपाले नालं लक्ष्मीर्विजम्भते । लतायास्तत्र का वृद्धिः शाखैका यत्र शाखिनि ॥
In Nitirākyūmrta 10. 82 he expresses the same idea by saying that a tree with a single branch does not cast a large shadow. In the same work (10. 71) he recommends that a king should have three, five or seven ministers. Yet the destiny of a king often depends upon the character of a single minister. Somadeva points out in Yasastilcakaa3. 242 that Duryodhana, though powerful, was ruined, because he had a wicked minister; while Candragupta, though without any resources, obtained a kingdom, because he had a good minister in Cāņakya.
The primary duty of a minister is described thus : he should protect those of the citizens lacking in fighting spirit and resolution with courage, and take care of those who are poor by charitable actions; and by avoiding all cause of disaffection, he should secure the loyalty of the subjects, infected with sedition, whether latent or manifest in ineffectual outbursts. The true minister of a king is one who is liked by the army and the allies, upright in matters relating to the country and the treasury, and above all devoted to the king (3.200):
तन्त्रमित्रार्पितप्रीतिर्देशकोशोचितस्थितिः । यश्चात्मनि भवेद्भक्तः सोऽमात्यः पृथिवीपतेः॥ The attitude of a minister towards the king should be governed by loyalty tempered with justice (3. 241 ):
यः कार्यार्थिनि भूपतावसमधीः कार्याय धत्ते धुरं यश्चाार्थिनि संनयोचितमतिश्चिन्तामणिजायते । भक्तौ भर्तरि मन्त्रिणामिदमहो दिव्यं द्वयं कीर्तितं न क्षोणीश महीयसां निरसनं राज्यस्य वा ध्वंसनम् ॥
1 शुचयः स्वामिनि निग्धा राजराद्वान्तवेदिनः । मन्त्राधिकारिणो राशामभिजाताः स्वदेशजाः। 3. 110. 2 'किमेकशाखस्य शाखिनो महती भवति च्छाया'. 3 'विग्रहावग्रहाभ्यां हीनानां दीनानां च प्रजानामवदानप्रदानाभ्यां रक्षणमवेक्षणं चान्तर्बहिरवान्तराटोपैः कोपैर्दुःस्थिताव
स्थितीनां प्रकृतीनां विरागकारणपरिहारेणैकमुखीकरणं च संक्षेपेण मत्रिणः कर्म ।' Book III, P, 445.