Studies in the Bhagavati Sutra

Author(s): J C Sikdar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 108

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STUDIES IN THE BHAGAWATI SŪTRÀ
according to the institution of kingship emerged out of the people's desire to be saved from the anarchical condition created by the Mātsyanyāya' (rule of fish) which brought immense miseries to them in its train. “Mātsyanyāyam apahitum prakști. bhiḥ Lakşmyāḥ karam grähitah."1.
Although a great emphasis has been put on the moral aspect of the king's character to discharge his sacred duties to the people and the state, yet in some cases as described in the BAS there is found a glimpse of pompous royal life of luxury and vice, led generally by the crown prince like Jamālī who spent his time in the upper palace by playing Mrdanga (a kind of drum) together with thirty-two kinds of dramatic represen. tation in the association of best young ladies (courtesans), dancing and dancing in front, singing and singing in front, by fondling them with tenderness again and again throughout the nights of the six seasons, viz. Prāvrt (Srāvanādiņ) Varşārātra (Aśvayujādih), Sarat (Mārgasīrśādih), Hemanta (Māghādiḥ), Vasanta (Caitrādụh) and Grīşma (Jyesthādiņ) and by enjoying singly the five kinds of human sensual gratification of desires, i.e. desired sound, touch, taste, object of beauty and smell" at the expense of private and public wealth.
Therefore the virtue of personal character and training in a disciplined life of a king and his officials are most essential for the successful working of government in a monarchical state.
The king was the chief executive head of both civil and military departments of the government, who carried on both the executive and judicial functions and led the army in the battlefield with the assistance of a large body of his high officials'.
In a word he kept a vigilent eye over all the departments, such as, jail, criminal, revenue, judicial, public works, social
1 Khalimpur Inscription of Dharmapāla of Bengal. Ep. Ind.
IV, p 218 Vide Some Historical Aspects of Inscriptions of Bengal, Dr. B. C. Sen. p. 292 f. N. 2. BhS, 9, 33, 383.
3 Ib, 7, 9, 300, 301. 4 16, 7, 9, 300, 301; 9, 33, 385; 11,9, 417; 11, 11, 429; 13, 6,491.