________________
POPULAR CHOICE
161 The selection was made sometimes by the people and occasionally by the ministers. The choice was ordinarily limited to the members of the royal family only, as is shown by the legend in Yāskal of the Kuru brothers Devāpi and Samtanu, and the story in the Samvara Jūtaka? of the Kāsi princes Uposatha and Samvara. In the Jūtaka the councillors ask a reigning king, "When you are dead, my lord, to whom shall we give the white umbrella ?” “Friends," said the monarch, "all my. sons have a right to the white umbrella. But you may give it to him that pleases your mind.”
At times, the popular choice fell on persons who did not belong to the ruling dynasty. Such may have been the case when the Sriñjayas expelled their hereditary ruler together with the Sthapati.3 Clear instances of popular preference for individuals outside the royal family are furnished by the Jātakas. The Pādañjali Jātaka," for instance, tells us that when a certain king of Benares died, his son, Pādañjali by name, an idle lazy loafer, was set aside, and the minister in charge of things spiritual and temporal was raised to the throne. The Sachchamkira Jataka, relates a story how nobles, Brāhmaṇas and all classes slew their king and anointed a private citizen. Sometimes the candidate comes from a place outside the realm. The Darīmukha and Sonaka Jātakas? tell
49-rājatve tam prajāḥ sarvā dharmajña iti vavrire. The expression kingmaker (rāja-kartri, Ait. Br. VIII. 17; Sat. Br. III. 4. 1. 7.) points to the important part played by officials including headmen of villages in the choice of the ruler. Both in the Vedic texts (Ait. Br. VIII. 12) and the epic emphasis is laid on the possession of moral qualities. The leader on whom the choice falls is ojishtha, balishtha, sahishtha, sattamah, pārayishnutama, dharmajña. In the fourth century B.C. physical beauty carried the palm in one territory (Kathaia in the Punjab according to Onesikritos). 1 Nirukta II. 10 ; Ved. Ind. II, 211.
2 No. 462. 3 Sat. Br. XII. 9. 3. 1 ff.
4 No. 247. 5 No. 73.
6 No. 378 ; cf. No. 401, 7 No. 529. 0. P. 90—21.
