Studies in the Bhagavati Sutra

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

Page 118

Sec. V]
STUDIES IN THE BHAGAWATI SUTRA
In Panini a reference is made to the duties of purohita as 'Paurohitya'. The position of the priest is indicated by the word purohitadigana' which implies the king, the general and other royal officers including the priest.
According to the Arthasastra" the priest stood next to the chief minister in official rank, while the general (senapati) and the crown prince (yuvaraja) occupied next position in successive order.
As regards qualifications a priest was supposed to be wellversed in the Vedas and political science (Dandanīti).
FIFTH SECTION
Structure of Government
In the BhS it is revealed that the king was assisted by a large body of officials of different grades in his running the heavy administrative machinery of the government, as it was an impossible task for a ruler to govern a state without the active co-operation of honest and loyal officers. That is why Manu emphatically states that the 'Danda' cannot justly be administered by a helpless, foolish, greedy king, not well-versed in the Sastra according to the law without the assistance of the ministers, the general, the priest, etc.
"So asahāyena mūḍhena lubdhenākṛtabuddhinā / Na śakyo nyayato netum saktena viṣayeṣu ca' 3 1/30/1.
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The Arthasastra of Kautilya also echoes the same sentiment of Manu, when it declares "sovereignty is possible only with assistance. A single wheel can never move".
The BhS mentions many government officials of several grades, who appear to have been organized into a regular civil service which consisted of the following staff-members, viz.
1 Panini, VI, 128. 3 Manusmrti, VII, 30.
2 Arthaŝastra, V, 3, 247, p. 276. Arthas astra, 13 (Ch. VII).