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ADMINISTRATION AND STATECRAFT
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At another place Dhanapāla has enunciated the idea of a natural pleasure felt by an ambitious conqueror on obtaining the Janapada of an enemy.' Even when Samaraketu has been entitled 'a foster brother' by Meghavahana, in relation to Harivāhana, Dhanapāla has likened Harivahana to a 'jigīşu' and Samaraketu to a 'vipakṣa Janapada' reminding one of the fact that the author as a true and sincere student of human psychology is not all sure about the fact that both would maintain the concord stipulated to be done so in so far as in the later stages to come Samaraketu had to face the ordeal of tracing Harivahana who had been lost in alliance with him. He in collusion with Kamalagupta and others could fain obtain the status of the crown prince and thereby that of a Jigisu too if he wanted to do so by letting go the pursuit of Harivahana lost by an elephant and giving it out to his sire his supposed death or even make efforts to get him killed by allowing his partners to make arrangements that way. It is a separate thing that he did not do so. On the other hand he himself had started on a digvijaya at the errands of his sire Candraketu who had installed him as his heir to the throne and had sent him attended by vassals, confidants and army personnel to render help to the king of Kāñcī an ally of his sire. In reality Samaraketu was a war prisoner brought by Vajrayudha whom Meghavahana elevated to the status of a foster brother to Harivahana so that he could remove the thorn of animosity between himself and his sire Candraketu who could never dare in future to help his subsidiary vassal and erstwhile foe, Kusumaśckhara, the king of Kāñci. Harivahana started on his inspection of his own mandala and was assisted by Samaraketu and other allies and moving through those and other Janapadas ultimately reached Kamarupa in Pragjyotișa (modern Assam) visiting enroute the durgagiri Mandaraka by name, a lake built by Meghavahana on his way to the conquest of the quarters, a devāgrahāra donated by Madirāvatī, a dharmaraṇya built by mantri Surananda, the border land on the skirts of the mountain where Nītivarma, the army in chief incharge of the North, had killed the Lord of the Huņas, the bhukti of Samaraketu i. e. Anga on the other side of a steam and the region forming the administrative resort of Kamalagupta obtained as gratification along with its group of towns and villages i.e. Kalinga. (TM. III 9 235-245)
Thus it appears from this description of Dhanapāla that Meghavāhana enroute his conquest of the quarters had resorted to the policy of a
1.) हरिवाहनोऽपि तद्गुणानुरञ्जितमनाः स्वप्नदृष्टेऽपि समरकेतौ विपक्षजनपद इव जिगीषुः परां मुदमवापत् । TM Vol. II p. 234. L.7
