Part 2.1: Responsibility towards the Family and the Citizen

The king showed great responsibility towards the family and the citizen alike. As a father, king Prabhākaravardhana showed responsibility, when Rājyaśrī was brought-up and her marriage time was coming. It is found in his conversation with his wife queen Yaśomatī.^[1] The king must regard his own happiness as indissolubly connected with that of his subjects. Therefore, the king Prabhākaravaradhana advised prince Harṣa, that he should always be conscious about the happiness of the citizens.^[2] In fact, the king alone can’t strengthen the bond of good-will, fraternity and mutual understanding among their employees. That relation had been expressed by the king Prabhākaravaradhana by heart and soul, when he was in death-bed.^[3] It is supported by Kautilya also.^[4] The relation between the king and the fellow citizens bears the most significant role for cohesive bonding between the people. It is seen in the Harṣacarita, after the death of the king Prabhākaravardhana, the people of Sthāṇvīśvara immersed themselves in deep sorrow and then some people destroyed their unparalleled sorrow by fasting, some killed themselves by falling from precipices, and some resorted to the forest etc.^[5]