Chapter 5 - Yasastilaka as a Socio-political record

As we have already pointed out, Yasastilaka throws considerable light on contemporary life and society, especially court life and administration; and the available data may be classed under three heads: court life, problems of statecraft and social conditions. COURT LIFE A glance at the Synopsis and Chapter VII (the section on Court poetry) will show that Books II and III of Yasastilaka contain valuable information on medieval court life; and the conditions described therein are chiefly applicable to an Imperial court, which, as suggested in a previous chapter, could be no other than that of the Rastrakuta emperors about the middle of the tenth century. Somadeva describes the ceremonies connected with the birth, nuptials and the coronation of the prince, and draws a series of vivid pictures of the various activities of the court. On the intellectual side we have weighty discussions of an academic character: sometimes the king listens to an elaborate debate on the guiding principles of policy; sometimes he discusses important verses of the Arthasastra²; or participates in heated debates, winning the applause of the learned by his proficiency in the philosophical systems of Jina, Jaimini, Kapila, Kanada, Carvaka and Buddha. Interludes in a lighter vein are not wanting. For example, on a certain occasion, while the king is discussing the poetical works of the Mahakavis, a poet named Pandita-vaitandika (Scholar Sophist) comes along and recites an untimely panegyric in his honour, e. g. (3. 271), haragirayanti mahighrah ksirodadhayanti vardhayah sarve | tava deva yasasi visarati saudhanti jaganti ca trini || "Sire, by reason of the expansion of thy fame, mountains turn white like the Kailasa; the seas turn white as the Ocean of milk, all of them; and the three worlds resemble palaces in lustre !" Finding the king inattentive, he asks discourteously how it is that the sovereign does not recognise a world-renowned poet like him! The king, however, wounds his 3 vanity by asking him the purport of a difficult verse of Sanskrit poetics which proves to be beyond his comprehension." 1 See Chap. VII. 2 See Chap. XVIII. 3 'kadacit ' ... panditaprakandamandali mandanadambaragirgumphasamrambhesu jinajaiminikapilakanacaracarvakasakyapranitapramana samvinataya vidusvininam parisadam cittamittisvatmayasah prasasti ruddhilekha | ' Vol. I, p. 480. 4. sakalakavilokacakrapramardanah khyata eva bhuvane'smin | kathamiha samprati bhavata samagato navabudhye'ham || 3. 273. 5 For the verse in question see Chap. XVIII. 12

Court poets or rather panegyrists are very much in evidence, and recite appropriate verses on diverse occasions, marriage, coronation etc. Certain of them describe the morning and evening scenery, the beauties of the seasons and the gaiety of court festivals; recount the merits of horses and elephants, and recite panegyrics while the king practises archery in the gymnasium. One of the bards who recites the verses in praise of the rising moon is described as having been a fellow student with the king; and there is no doubt that the presence of these educated versifiers adds to the refinement and cultural atmosphere of the court. Reference is made in Book II to Committees of Experts (acaryaparisad) for the examination of horses and elephants and their representatives, the Mahamatra and the Mahasadhaka, the chief keepers of the royal elephants and horses respectively, who submit to the king detailed oral reports on the characteristics of the elephant and the horse selected for his use. The Mahamatra appears to be a Brahmana, being introduced as belonging to the family of Parasurama; while the Mahasadhaka is an experienced soldier, being described as having a body marked with the scars of wounds received in many a battle. Great attention seems to have been paid to elephants. The king himself takes part in the training and arming of elephants, and one of his favourite recreations is the witnessing of elephant-races in the race-courses (pradhava-dharani¹). The court jester (narma-saciva) does not appear in person in our work, but certain utterances attributed to him contain some home truths about the character of kings (3. 254-5): samarabharah subhatanam phalani karnejapaistu bhogyani | karidasana iva nrpaterbahyah klesaya khadane'ntasthah || strakapuspamiva nisargadgunesu nrpatih parankhah prayah | kosa ivatmavidarini nikhimse sammukho bhavati || "The warriors bear the brunt of the fighting, but it is the wire pullers who enjoy the results. Those serving a king from outside undergo all hardship, while those in the inner circle reap the benefits; just as the outer tusks of an elephant do the hard jobs, while the inner teeth are employed in eating. Kings, by nature, turn their backs at merits, just as the flowers of a wreath turn their backs at the string. They welcome the heartless who destroy them, even as a sheath receives the sword that cleaves it. " The minister, the physician, the chef and the priest are mentioned together in one of the morning verses (3. 11) recited by the bards, who announce their arrival at the court. The court physician seems to be well-read in medical literature, aud admonishes the king in a lengthy 1 Book III ( pradhavadharanisu karivinodavilokanadohadam prasadamadhyasya etc.).

discourse on matters connected with physical exercise, food and drink." Astrologers are mentioned in Book II, and they are consulted on the eve of the coronation, and doubtless on many other occasions. The Sthapati or the architect appears in connection with the arrangements for the coronation and the construction of the magnificent pavilion on the bank of the Sipra.³ The composition of the personnel of medieval courts seems to have been more or less similar in India and elsewhere. Nizami of Samarcand declared about 1155 that a properly constituted court should have four classes of educated men: secretaries of state, poets, astrologers and physicians, for "the business of kings cannot be conducted without competent secretaries; their triumphs and victories will not be immortalized without eloquent poets; their enterprises will not succeed unless undertaken at seasons adjudged propitious by sagacious astrologers; while health, the basis of all happiness and activity, can only be secured by the services of able and trustworthy physicians". This is a fairly accurate description of the composition of medieval courts, whether oriental or occidental. We are told that "even in the West most courts had their astrologers by the thirteenth century-the earl of Chester even in the twelfth-and the other three might well be found still earlier, but in a less bureaucratic form." The description is particularly true of the Sicilian court of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries with "its astrologers and poets, its Arab physicians and many-tongued secretaries"; and the entourage of the Indian court was not, we presume, materially different, to judge from Somadeva's circumstantial account. As regards secretaries and state officials, we may here refer to the Sandhivigrahins, who appear in our work in the role of secretaries of state, and can be accurately described as 'many-tongued', as will be seen later. characteristic 5 One of the functions of the Sandhivigrahins in our work is to announce the arrival at the imperial court of envoys from foreign courts with presents of their respective countries. The poetical utterances of the Sandhivigrahins are reproduced below (3. 247-46): dutah keralacolasimhalasaka srimalapancala kairanyaiscangakalingavangapatibhih prasthapitah prangane | tisthantyatmakulagatakhilamahisaram grhitva kare devasyapi jagatpateravasarah kim vidyate va na va || 1 See below. 2 See Chap. II. 3 Haskins: The Renaissance of the twelfth century, p. 54. 4 The court astrologer...became an indispensable adjunct of the 'Abbasid throne. Hitti: History of the Arabs, p. 318. 5 The hajib or chamberlain of the Baghdad court was attached to the person of the caliph, and his duty consisted in introducing acoredited envoys and dignitaries into the caliphal presence. Hitti (op. cit.).

92 "The YASASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE avalagati kalingadhisvarastvam karindraisturaganivaha esa presitah saindhavaiste | ayamapi ca samaste pandyadesadhinathastara lagulikaharaprabhrtanyagrahastah || kasmiraih kiranathah ksitipa mrgamadairesa nepalapalah kauseyaih kosalendrah sisiragiripatigranthipanairudirnaih | sricandrascandrakantairvividha kuladhanairmagadhah prabhrtaistvam drastum dvare samaste yadiha samucitam deva tanmam prasadhi || envoys, despatched by the kings of Kerala, Cola, Ceylon, the Saka land, Srimala and Pancala, and by the lords of Anga, Kalinga and Vanga as well as other kings, stand in the courtyard, holding in their hands the choicest products of all their dynastic possessions. (They may be told) whether Your Majesty, the lord of the earth, has the leisure to see them or not." "The lord of Kalinga comes to thee with mighty elephants, and the princes of the Indus region have sent thee yonder multitude of horses. Here, too, is the lord of the Pandya country, his "Ruler of hands full of wreaths of large pearls brought as presents." the earth, to see thee the lord of Kasmira is at the door with presents of saffron, the ruler of Nepala with musk, the lord of Kosala with silks, the lord of the Himalayas with large Granthiparna' roots, the lord of Kailasa with moonstones, and the king of Magadha with diverse heirlooms. Sire, command me to do what befits the occasion. 27 The challenge to various kings, demanding submission, intended to be delivered by Yasodhara's envoy, is no more than a rhetorical exercise²; but interesting data on the reception of envoys from hostile courts and the declaration of war can be gleaned from the episode of the king of Pancala described in Yasastilaka, Book III. The Sandhivigrahin enters and tells Yasodhara: 'Sire, Dukula, an envoy of Acala, king of Pancala, has arrived and is waiting at the gate.' Thus saying, he ushers in the envoy, and ordered by Yasodhara, offers him a seat at the proper place after he has paid his respects to the king. The Sandhivigrahin then says: "Envoy, show to yonder Lord the presents sent by your master. Messenger, deliver the letter;' and both the envoy (duta) and the messenger (sasanahara) carry out the instructions. The Sandhivigrahin had already been informed by a spy, living in Acala's capital in the guise of an ascetic under the name of Jabala, that that king had a powerful force of elephants and planned to declare war against Yasodhara before long The information supplied by the spy is corroborated by certain indications provided by the articles - an iron ball, the letter marked with the emblem of a sword on the outside, and the presents wrapped in four pieces of cloth; or according to another interpretation, an iron ball and the presents and the letter, ] A fragrant root called fc in Assamese, which is pounded by women to the accom paniment of sengs during the night on nuptial occasions among the Assamese people. 2 See Chap. VII. sent

both marked with the figure of a sword and four encircling lines. In Nitivakyamrta (Chap. 13) Somadeva refers to these emblems as being present on letters from enemies. Now, the iron ball symbolized the invulnerability of the sender; the fourfold wrappings or the four encircling lines the four-limbed' army consisting of cavalry, infantry, elephants, and chariots; and the sword, of course, the threat of war. It was apparently usual to despatch such symbolic gifts as a prelude to warlike measures; and that it was a very ancient custom, and not confined to India, is shown by the account of the gifts (a bird, a mouse, a frog and five arrows) sent by the Scythian kings to Darius under similar circumstances, as related by Herodotus, Book IV. 131. Be that as it may, the Sandhivigrahin is convinced of the war-like intentions of the king of Pancala, and considers it useless to examine the insincere presents and the contents of the letter, which was only too likely to proclaim the enemy's glory. Accordingly he puts aside the letter and asks the envoy to deliver his message orally, at the same time threatening him with dire punishment for his unfriendly mission: the nose would be chopped off, the head shaved at random, Bilva fruits tied to the forelock, and a garland of potsherds hung round the neck; besides, he would have to ride a donkey. Controlling himself, the Sandhivigrahin admits that no wise man should be angry with an envoy who is bound to report facts. Then addressing the envoy, a Brahmana, the royal official stresses the futility of further queries, and goes on to say: "The motives of your master are clear from your demeanour. The reason why His Majesty has so long connived at Acala, in spite of his having committed many an act of defiance, is that the kings of his line had long paid homage in the past to His Majesty's forbears. But, now, if Acala seeks for himself the fate of a moth in the flames of His Majesty's might, it would be like desiring to play with the manes of a lion, or decorate oneself with the crest-gems of deadly serpents, or scratch with one's finger-nails the tusks of a rutting elephant, or extinguish with one's hands the fire of the epoch of universal destruction, or swim across the ocean, or traverse the sky with 1 The first interpretation is found in a marginal note in Ms. A. Somadeva says prabhrtatantrametat patram ca prahinot | tathahyanayormandalagramudrankito vestanacatustayanestankitasva bahih prakasah sanivesah | p. 550. Ms. A says anayorlekhaprabhrtayoh samnivesah samsthitih yathasamkhyam lekhasya samnivesah khannacihnasahitah yuddham sucayati | prabhrtasya samnivesah vestanacatustayamistam vastracatustayena vestitah sainyabhayam darsayatiti bhavah | ' catvari vestanani khadgamudra ca pratipaksalekhanam ' | 2_The anonymous commentary says tesamupari catvari vestanani bandhanani bhavanti 3 nasodvasanamargamundanasikhamalurabandhakramah kanthe sirnasaravadamakalanam katreyakarohanam | dutanyasca na te nikaraparusah ko'pyatra karyo vidhistatsvastho vada vacikam nijapaterlekhastvayam tisthatu || 3. 402.

a bound, or lift the Mandara mountain with one's hands, or use the axe of Siva as a mirror, or extract the pearl embedded in the jaw of the Primeval Boar for using it as an ornament." Acala, in fact, proud of his own power in destroying the petty enemies of his kingdom, does not even now realise the great king's valour, praised by Indra himself in talks about Ksatriya heroes( 3. 403): vaikunthah kulakirtanam kamala bhurdarbhapragalbhangulirna stri naiva pumanumapatirayam candro nisasevakah | helih kelisa rojabandhuranilah kridasrame catuman yasyettham gananamaresu vijayi tasyahave ko'parah || "Who can conquer him in battle who is talked about among the gods thus: Visnu is his panegyrist, and Brahman his priest, busily taking up Kusa blades with the fingers; Siva is the eunuch of his harem, and yonder Moon serves him at night; and the Sun is the friend of his toy lotuses, and the wind caresses him in the fatigue of his sports!" The speech of the Sandhivigrahin arouses the martial ardour or the warriors present, each of whom, addressing himself to the envoy, utters a vehement challenge to the king of Pancala. Kodandamartanda, for example, catching hold of the envoy's hand, says (3. 405-6): sripadam mitrapaksanam kharadandam ca vidvisam | devasyasya padambhojadvayam sirasi dharyatam || no cet kodandamartandakandakhanditamastakah | yasyatyajau sa te svami rundatandavadambaram || "Hold on thy head His Majesty's lotus feet, a source of prosperity to his allies, but grimly oppressive to his foes. Otherwise, thy master, decapitated by the arrows of Kodanda-martanda (The Sun of the Bow), will vehemently dance on the battlefield, a headless trunk." Karavalavira declares, brandishing his sword (3. 409-10) : adhvaga, sadhvavadharyatam | < akharvagarvadurvaravirya paryastamanasah | madiyasvamisevasu yah ko'pi hatasahasah || vipaksapaksaksayadaksadiksah kaukseyako mamaka esa tasya | raksamsi vaksahksatajaih ksaradbhih pratiksate'ksunnataya ranesu || Wayfarer, know for certain, this my sword, consecrated to the task of destroying the foeman and his allies, amply gratifies the goblins on the battlefield with the blood gushing from the bosom of the man, who is slack in paying homage to my master, being perverted by a sense of overweening pride and irresistible might." Certain of the champions ask the envoy to deliver threatening messages to the king of Pancala, of which the following are specimens, being communicated by Trisula-bhairava and Asama-sahasa respectivly (3. 416 and 320): idam trisulam tisrbhih sikhabhirmargatrayam vaksasi te vidhaya | patalamartyatridivavataram karta rane kirtimimam madiyam || 1 The Boar Incarnation of Visnu. 2 i. e. the envoy.

"Three openings will this trident make in thy bosom with its three prongs, and spread my martial fame on earth, in heaven and in the nether regions!' tularane dvandvarane divarane nisarane kutarane paratra va | yadi pravirastvamihaidhi me pure na garjitaih sauryakalesu kirtayah || "If thou art strong in duels or in day-war or night-war or deceptive warfare or in other modes of fighting, do thou confront me in any of them. The fame of the valiant is not produced by empty roars.' dw Throughout this unseemly scene, insulting language is freely used, the king of Pancala being referred to as 'the meanest of all the villains'³, and the envoy variously addressed as Veda-vaivadhika ('one to whom the Vedas are a burden'), dvijapasada, brahmabandhu, dvija-vamsapamsana, or simply as Brahmana'. Happily the disorder is stopped by the intervention of the commander-in-chief who addresses the assembly: Ye wise men, useless the shouts of men lacking in proper conduct. The brave and the timorous will be sorted out in war (3. 422). Therefore let every one of you control his wrath and desist from offensive language. You, too, Sandhivigrahin, eager to enhance the might of your master, should not give way to emotion. Examine the letter and draft a reply. Examine the presents and prepare counterpresents. Let due respect be shown to all the three (the envoy, the letter and the presents), for the kings speak through their envoys even when they take up arms against each other. Not to speak of the envoys, even their servants should not be insulted. Further, neither one's own failure nor the success of others depends upon the loud declamations of envoys. They are non-combatant intermediaries and speak as they like." (3. 423) The letter is soon ready, and the Sandhivigrahin reads it out. It is extremely brief except for a lengthy conglomeration of epithets designed to glorify Yasodhara; and, after a polite and formal prelude, communicates an arrogant message from the commander-in-chief, Vijayavardhana, calling upon the king of Pancala to submit, since there is no safety for him whether on the battlefield or in flight. The letter is reproduced in part below: svasti | samastamahasamantasikhandamandanibhavaccaranakamalah kamalakara saseja sevyamanapadapallavah pallavapandya cola- ceramaharmyanirmanaprakasyamanadigvijayavahinipracarah caracaksuh sahasrasaksatkrta sakalabhupalamandalah mandalagradharajalanimagnanikhi- laratisamtanah ......pataliputrapanyanganabhujangah valabhirambhoruvibhramabhramarah pauravapuramdhiroghratilakah satatavasuvitarana- prinitadvijasamajah sriyasodharamaharajah sakalaprasastisahitamacalamahipatimadisati | sreyo'nyat | karyam caitadeva-yaduta vijaya- vardhanah senapatirbhavantamevamamantrayate " The episode of the embassy, divested of rhetoric, throws interesting sidelights on court practices in the tenth century, but even the rhetoric 1 'aho duta nivedayedam madvacanam tasya sakaladuracaraloka hethasya ' etc.

cannot entirely be ignored, as it somehow always appears in the background of medieval court life. Diplomatic immunity seems to have been assured by time-honoured custom, but there was nothing to prevent an envoy being subjected to humiliation or open insult. Things were not far different in this respect in the contemporary Byzantine court, to judge from the Legatio of Liudprand, Bishop of Cremona, a Western contemporary of Somadeva, who gives an account of an embassy to Constantinople during the reign of the Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, undertaken on behalf of Otto the Great in 968 A. D. Not only was Liudprand compelled every now and then to swallow affront and offensive language at the Byzantine court, but he also describes how in the same year the envoys of the Pope were actually put in prison for bringing an improperly addressed letter to the emperor. The fulminations of the court officials against the Papal legates may be compared with the threats uttered by the Sandhivigrahin against the envoy of the king of Pancala: "......... ......... Would that one of them were a bishop and the other a marquess! Then we would sew them in a sack, and after giving them a sound beating with rods and plucking out their beards and hair we would throw them into the sea. As for these fellows, their lives may be spared;.................. "1 The comprehensive report of the spy to the king in Book III is a unique document, to which we will return presently. The review of the army is an important incident of court life, and Somadeva's detailed account of it in the same Book gains in importance from the fact that he describes regiments of soldiers from different parts of India in the king's army. Somadeva's picture is so minute and lifelike that he must have personally observed the ways of these soldiers, and may be supposed to have witnessed them, if anywhere, in the capital of the Rastrakuta emperors, who possibly included in their armies regiments composed of fighting men of different nationalities of India to meet the demands of their far-flung campaigns beyond the limits of the Deccan. Five regiments in all are described: the Deccan regiment; the Dramila or South Indian regiment provided with litters; the North Indian regiment of cavalry; the Gurjara regiment of archers; and the Tirhut regiment, expert in naval warfare, and well-equipped with elephants, and containing an undisciplined Gauda element. The Tirhut, or the Tairabhukta regiment, as it is called, may be roughly described as the Behar and Bengal regiment, and it may 1 Liudprand:. Works. Trans. Wright, p. 264. 2 See Chap. IV. The King reviews the troops from a raised platform. Somadeva says sakalasainyasamalokanottungatamanga samgatikaresu baladarsanavasaresu | p, 461.

be noted in this connection that there is another reference to naval soldiers (taricaranara) elsewhere in the work." It will be seen that most of the regiments described are those of foot-soldiers; and the description, on the whole, corresponds to Al Masudi's statement that the Balhara or the Rastrakuta king's horses and elephants were innumerable, but his troops were mostly infantry'. It has, however, been rightly pointed out that the Rastrakuta cavalry cannot be overlooked, and "the lightning all-India movements of Dhruva, Govinda III and Indra III presuppose a strong cavalry". Another noteworthy feature of Somadeva's description of the regiments is the absence of any reference to chariots, although he refers to their fighting qualities in his theoretical work Nitivakyamrta. This seems to corroborate the view that chariots as an instrument of war were no longer in use in the days of the Rastrakutas.+ The lighter side of court life is represented by dance exhibitions in the court theatre in connection with the Purvaranga ceremony accompanied by hymns to Sarasvati. The king is described as witnessing these performances in company with expert dancers and well-trained exponents of the histrionic art. As is to be expected, certain court festivals are also mentioned: the Mahanavami, the Dipotsava, the Spring carnival and the worship of Makaradhvaja, the god of love. 5 It is hardly necessary to emphasize the documentary value of the second and third Books of Yasastilaka as presenting before us a detailed and vivid picture of Indian court life about the middle of the tenth century. Yasodhara, the hero of the story, is a legendary figure; but the setting of his court has a historical character and reflects the conditions prevailing in the writer's own time. It is a curious coincidence that not long before Somadeva composed his imaginative account of Indian court life, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII (912-59) wrote his De cerimoniis aulae, an account of the whole life of the Byzantine polity, with its hierarchy of lay and ecclesiastical officials,' and the traditional ceremonies and festivals, 'from the coronation and burial of an Emperor to the baptism of his son'. The Indian writer would presumably have 1 ' kadanamedinisu nakharadavidarita ra tikarituragarathataricaranaranikara . Book III, p. 490. 2 Altekar: The Rastrakutas and their times, p. 248. 3 Ibid., p. 249. 4 Ibid., p. 248. 5 See Chap. XV. 6 See Chap. XV. 7 Hussey: Church and Learning in the Byzantine Empire, p. 28. 13

shared the emperor's idea that it is through its glorious ceremonial that the imperial majesty is increased in splendour'; and Somadeva was doubtless sufficiently impressed by the grandeur of contemporay court life, which partly explains his treatment of the theme as a pendent to the traditional story of Yasodhara. But he does more: he deals with problems of administration, a subject in which he is deeply interested. PROBLEMS OF STATECRAFT Side by side with the portrayal of court life, Somadeva lays down precepts and principles for the guidance of a monarch, and illustrates them where necessary by means of concrete examples and quasi-historical traditions. From this point of view, Yasastilaka may be regarded as a sort of illustrative commentary on some of the topics dealt with in the formal treatises on the nitisastra including Somadeva's own Nitivakyamrta. The latter is a comprehensive work in the form of sutras in thirtytwo chapters; and topics briefly touched in Nitivakyamrta are often treated in greater detail in Yasastilaka, the two works supplementing each other, so far as problems of statecraft are concerned. Somadeva lays great emphasis on the paramount influence of the monarch in moulding the character of his subjects, who implicitly follow his example whether it is good or bad. We are told that just as the day and the night cause light and darkness respectively, so is the example of the king the determining factor in the practice of virtue or sin by his subjects (Book IV, p. 95): ahoratram yatha hetuh prakasadhvantajanmani | tatha mahipatirhetuh punyapapapravartane || Somadeva quotes in this connection a popular verse: rajni dharmini dharmisthah pape papah same samah | rajanamanuvartante yatha raja tatha prajah || A similar verse is found also in S'ukranitisara 4. 1. 62: supunyo yatra nrpatirdharmisthastatra hi prajah | mahapapi yatra raja tantradharmaparo janah || The idea is indeed an old one, and occurs in Aryasura's Jatakamala XIII. 39, wherein the subjects unhesitatingly following the king's example, good or bad, are compared to cows following the lead of an ox: jihyam subham va vrsabhapracaram gavo'nuga yadvadanuprayanti | utksiptasankankusa nirvighattam prajastathaiva ksitipasya vrttim || It is interesting to note that the influence of the king's example on his subjects is likewise emphasized in St. John Damascene's Barlaam and loasaph (Chap. XXXIII) a religious romance of the eighth century to which we will have occasion to revert. "And soothly, the king was a good example to all; and he inflamed and kindled the hearts of many to be of the same mind with himself.

For such is the nature of authority. Its subjects always conform to its likeness, and are wont to love the same objects, and to practise the pursuits which they perceive to be pleasing to their governor." "12 Somadeva goes on to say: goes on to say: "Verily the habits and customs of men are based on those of the king. And the customary regulations of the different castes and orders of society, leading to religious merit and demerit, are subject to the king's control. The citizens do exactly what the kings do, good or bad, under the influence of passion or anger, or through ignorance. Somadeva reinforces his remarks by pointing out how the bad example set by kings is responsible for the existence of evil customs among their subjects. For instance, the kings are to blame for the fact that the Brahmanas of the Vangi kingdom are in the habit of drinking wine, and the Persians commit incest with their mothers, and there is intermixture of castes in Ceylon.3 It is difficult to adjudge the historical value of these statements. The Vangi country is identified by Srutasagara in his commentary with Ratnapura, modern Ratanpur, which was the capital of Daksina Kosala (Bilaspur District, C. P.), where reigned a branch of the Cedis of Tripuri. The reference to the intermixture of castes in Ceylon may have something to do with the conversion of the island to Buddhism by Mahinda under the king Devanampiya Tissa, a contemporary of Asoka, as related in the Mahavamsa. As regards the Persian custom, the Christian Apologist Tertullian (second century A. D.) says in his Apology IX. 16 that the Persians, according to Ctesias, consort with their mothers." 5 Be that as it may, Somadeva concludes his argument by declaring that just as a good king acquires the sixth part of the religious merit of those who practise virtue, so does a wicked one the sixth part of the sin of those who commit misdeeds: yathaiva punyasya sukarmabhajam sasthamsabhagi nrpatih suvrttah | tathaiva papasya kukarmabhajam sasthamsabhagi nrpatih kuvrttah || 1 Text and Trans. in Loeb Classical Library, p. 515. 2 'nrpatipratisthani ca khalu dehinam vyavaharatantrani vartante | nrpatyayattah punyapapahetavo varnasramacaravyavasthasca | te ca nrpatayah kamakrodhabhyamajnanena va yathaiva subhamasubham va karmarabhante tathaiva janapada api | ' Book IV. 3 ' sruyate hi - vangimandale nrpatidosadbhudevesvasavopayogah, parasikesu svasavitrisamyogah, simhalesu ca visvamitrasrstiprayoga ' Ibid. p. 95. 4 Poussin: Dynasties et Histoire de l' Inde, p. 155. 5 Ctesias of Cnidus lived many years at the Persian court towards the end of the 5 th century B. C., and wrote in the Ionic dialect a comprehensive work on the history of Persia. 6 Persas cum suis matribus misceri Ctesias refert.

The idea is not new. Yajnavalkya 1. 335 says that the king acquires the sixth part of the religious merit of the subjects as a result of governing them with justice; while the Agnipurana 223. 10 goes further and says that a king acquires the sixth part of both the merit and the demerit of his subjects.' Somadeva lays great emphasis on the personal supervision of the affairs of the state by the king. He says: "A king inaccessible to his subjects is misled by those near him and baffled by his enemies. The employees, like faithless wives, have, as a rule, no other means of thriving than the troubles of their masters, nor has a master any other means of thriving than by checking the transgression of his employees, like that of his wives." Somadeva has in this connection the following verses in Yasastilaka, Book III (3. 23-26): " 3 niyuktahastarpitarajyabharastisthanti ye svairaviharasarah | bidalavrnda hi tadugdhamudrah svapanti te mudhadhiyah ksitindrah || jnayeta margah salile timinam patatrinam vyomni kadacidesah | adhyaksasiddhe'pi krtavalopa na jnayate'matyajanasya vrttih || vyadhivrddhau yatha vaidyah srimatamahitodyamah | vyasanesu tatha rajnah krtayatva niyoginah || niyogibhirvina nasti rajyam bhupe hi kevale | tasmadami vidhatavya raksitavyasca yatnatah || 'Kings who enjoy pleasures at will, leaving the charge of the kingdom in the hands of officials, are foolish indeed. They might as well sleep, leaving the cats in charge of the milk. The movement of fish in the water and of birds in the sky might sometimes be known, but the conduct of ministers, inscrutable even in palpable matters, can never be known. Just as a physician exerts himself to aggravate ailments of wealthy patients, so do the officials of a king attempt to create troubles for him. There cannot be a kingdom with the king alone, without any officials; so they have to be created as well as guarded with care. " The necessity of strict control to be exercised by the king over his officials is emphasized also in Somadeva's Nitivakyamrta (Chaps. 17 and 18), and there is sometimes close verbal resemblance between the statements in the two works. For example, we read in Nitivakyamrta (17. 38-9, 44): durdarso hi raja karyakaryaviparyasamasannaih karyate'tisamdhiyate ca dvisadbhih | vaidyesu srimatam vyadhivardhanadiva niyogisu bharturvyasanavardhanadaparo nasti jivanopayah | marjaresu dugdharaksanamiva niyogisu visvasakaranam | 1 punyat sadbhagamadatte nyayena paripalayan | sarvadanadhikam yasmat prajanam paripalanam || 2 ' raja sadbhagamadatte sukrtaduskrtadapi '. 3 'durdarso hi raja karyakaryaviparyasamasannaih karyate'tisamdhiyate ca dvisadbhih | na hi niyoginamasatijananamiva bhartu rvyasanadaparah prayenasti jivanopayah | svamino va niyuktanam strinamivatiprasarananivaranat| ' Book III, P. 373.

It may also be noted in this connection that the verse 3. 24 quoted above is reminiscent of the following verses of Kautilya's Arthasastra II., 9: matsya yathantahsalile caranto jnatum na sakyah salilam pibantah | yuktastatha karyavidhau niyukta jnatum na sakya dhanamadadanah || api sakya gatirjnatum patatam khe patatrinam | na tu pracchannabhavanam yuktanam caratam gatih || Somadeva opines that the ministers of a king should be men of pure lives, loyal and well-versed in the science of government: they should be men of birth and natives of the country." A king should not depend upon a single minister, the prosperity of one doing so being compared to a creeper climbing a tree with a single branch. Somadeva says in Yasastilaka 3. 230 : ekamatye mahipale nalam laksmirvijrmbhate | latayastatra ka vrddhih sakhaika yatra sakhini || In Nitivakyamrta 10. 82 he expresses the same idea by saying that a In the same tree with a single branch does not cast a large shadow.2 work (10. 71) he recommends that a king should have three, five or seven ministers. Yet the destiny of a king often depends upon the character of a single minister. Somadeva points out in Yasastilaka 3. 242 that Duryodhana, though powerful, was ruined, because he had a wicked minister; while Candragupta, though without any resources, obtained a kingdom, because he had a good minister in Canakya. courage, and The primary duty of a minister is described thus: he should protect those of the citizens lacking in fighting spirit and resolution with take care of those who are poor by charitable actions; and by avoiding all cause of disaffection, he should secure the loyalty of the subjects, infected with sedition, whether latent or manifest in ineffectual outbursts. The true minister of a king is one who is liked by the army and the allies, upright in matters relating to the country and the treasury, and above all devoted to the king (3. 200): tatramitrarpitapritirdesakosocitasthitih | yascatmani bhavedbhaktah so'matyah prthivipateh || The attitude of a minister towards the king should be governed by loyalty tempered with justice (3. 241): yah karyarthini bhupatavasamadhih karyaya dhatte dhuram yascartharthini samnayocitamatiscintamanirjayate | bhaktau bhartari mantrinamidamaho divyam dvayam kirtitam na ksonisa mahiyasam nirasanam rajyasya va dhvamsanam || 1 sucayah svamini snigdha rajarajantavedinah | matradhikarino rajnamabhijatah svadesajah || 3. 110. 2 'kimekasakhasya sakhino mahati bhavati cchaya '. 3 ' vigrahavagrahabhyam hinanam dinanam ca prajanamavadanapradanabhyam raksanamaveksanam cantarbahiravantaratopaih kopairduh sthitava- sthitinam prakrtinam viragakaranapariharenaikamukhikaranam ca samksepena mantrinah karma | ' Book III, p. 445.

"Unequalled in wisdom, he undertakes the responsibility of executing a task when the king demands action, and acts like the Wishing gem, in conformity with justice, when the king is in need of funds. These are said to be the two divine factors governing the loyalty of ministers to their master, and not, o king, the expulsion of the great nor the extinction of the realm." Those who are in constant fear of their lives (that is, fear the king), and have no motives of sordid gain in deliberations, are alone fit to be ministers of kings, and not those who are like blood-sucking leeches (Book IV, p. 155): pratiksanam samsayitayuso ye na yesvapeksasti ca karyavade | ta eva mantre'dhikrta nrpanam na ye jalaukasamavrttayasca || Further, a minister should exercise independence of judgment in expressing his views, and his aim should not merely be to please the king. Somadeva remarks (Ibid.): prasasti yah srotrvasena dharmam nrpecchaya yo nigrnati karyam | akalpakamopacayena vaidyastrayasta ete kalikalapada || "He who preaches religion according to the inclinations of his hearers, he who sets forth a project in conformity with the wishes of the king, and the physician who lives by ministering to the desires of his patients: these three are the pillars of the Kali Age!" Ministers are, however, faced with a dilemma. If they followed the wishes of the king, the people might be ruined; while if they acted according to the wishes of the people, they might ruin their own position. Yet it is incumbent on ministers to speak the truth: this might only inolve their own ruin, but false counsel might bring about the ruin of the state, the king, and themselves as well (Book IV, pp. 155-6): prajavilopo nrpaticchaya syatprajecchaya cacarite svanasah | na mantrinam vedhavidhayinivatsukham sadaivobhayatah samasti || yato yathartham vadatam naranamatmaksayah syatparameka eva | rastrasya rajno dhruvamatmanasca mithyopadesastu karoti nasam || Somadeva speaks a good deal about ministerial corruption. The report of the spy in Book III is designed to show to what length the corruption of a single minister, placed in charge of a province, can possibly go; and it also gives occasion to a large number of verses, attributed to diverse poets, on the supposed villainy of ministers in general. The author of Yasastilaka seems to regard the proper control and supervision of the activities of the ministers by the king as the first and foremost requisite in the administration of a state. He opines that the evil ways of ministers cease only when the king is strict in determining issues of justice and 1 See Chap. VII.

injustice; if he is lenient, indolent and bent on the pleasures of the moment, the ministers are bound to prove insolent and disloyal (3. 196): summed sacivacaritam tatraivaitat prasamyati bhupatau bhavati iha ya nyayanyayapratarkanakarkasah | sadayahrdaye mandodyoge tadatvasukhonmukhe striya iva nrpe hapta bhrtyah katham na vikurvate || The evil consequences of ministerial corruption and misrule aer up thus (3. 197): prakrti vikrtih kosotkantih prajapralayagatih svajanaviratirmitrapritih kulinajana sthitih | kusacivarate rajanyetaddhruvam nanu jayate tadanu sa parairdayadevi baladavalupyate || "Sedition among the citizens, depletion of the treasury, decimation of the population, disaffection of kinsmen, hostility of friends, and the emigration of the high-born: verily, this is sure to happen when a king is attached to a wicked minister. Thereafter the former is ousted by force by his enemies or by his kinsmen." Magnanimity accompanied by pre-eminence is stated to be the sole cause of a king having honest persons to serve him. A king may be poor; but if he is magnanimous, he can have plenty of trustworthy servants: even when a pool of water is dried up, numerous trees grow under its bridge (3. 198): adhanasyapi mahiso mahiyaso bhavati bhrtyasampattih | suskasyapi hi sarasah palitale padapavibhutih || It is dangerous for kings to incur the displeasure of the people by favouring the unworthy and dishonouring the worthy. Several semilegendary examples are cited by Somadeva to illustrate the point. A king of Kalinga named Ananga, who had made a barber his commanderin-chief, was pelted to death with clods of earth by the enraged citizens. Similarly, a king named Karala was killed in the Kerala country for making a gambler his priest; king Mangala was killed in the country of Vangala for making an outcaste his minister; while in the country of Krathakaisika a king named Kama met with a similar fate for making the son of a courtesan the Crown prince. On the other hand, in Vanga a king named Sphulinga was assassinated for humiliating his honest and sincere minister; in Magadha a king named Makaradhvaja was murdered for despising his pious priest; in Kaunga a king named Kuranga was killed for insulting his powerful commander-in-chief; and in Cedi king Nadisa was similarly punished for removing his innocent eldest son from the position of heir-apparent.¹ Danger to kings lurks also in presents sent by rival courts, which should be carefully scrutinized before acceptance. It is said that king 1 Book III, p. 431.

2 Dhisana killed king Durdharsa by presenting him with a jewel casket containing a deadly artificial serpent. Another king, Kanapa¹ by name, killed a rival named Krpana by sending him a perfumed cloth for covering idols which was coated with a deadly poison. These stories are also mentioned with slight variations in Nitivakyamrta (Chap. 13) wherein we are told that a king of Karahata named Kaitabha killed king Vasu by presenting him with a marvellous cloth perfumed with a deadly poison, and a king named Karavala killed king Karala by sending him a jewel casket containing a venomous serpent.³ Somadeva clearly says in the latter work that letters and presents sent by an enemy should not be accepted without being examined by trustworthy persons (13. 15). A king should also be on his guard in his relations with women. This is, as a matter of fact, one of the lessons of the romance; and the subject is also treated in detail in Nitivakyamrta (Chap. 24). The direction given in the latter work (24. 32) that nothing coming from the ladies' apartments should be eaten by the king has a direct bearing on the story of Yasodhara. Free and careless association with the inmates of the harem is held to be a source of danger to the king (Book IV, p. 153): antahpure bhumipatirmadandhah karoti yah samgatimanganabhih | tasya dhruvam syadacirena mrtyurbilapravesadiva dardurasya || "Verily, the king who, blind with passion, associates with women in the inner apartments, soon loses his life, like a frog entering a serpent's hole. The idea occurs also in Nitivakyamrta- dardurasya sarpagrhapravesa iva strigrhapraveso rajnah | 24. 31. 77 Further, both works record a number of traditions, with slight variations, to illustrate how kings are sometimes assassinated by women with devices of their own. For instance, in the Yavana country a queen named Manikundala killed king Ajaraja (Angaraja) by giving him a mouthful of poisoned wine, in order to place her son on the throne. In the country of Surasena, Vasantamati killed king Suratavilasa by kissing him with lips painted with poisoned red lac. In the Dasarna country Vrkodari killed king Madanarnava with her girdle-jewel smeared with poison. In Magadha, Madiraksi killed king Manmathavinoda with a sharp-edged mirror, and 101 1 Ibid. p. 550; Ms. A reads 2 'devangavastra vasanisekena ca sparsavisena '. 3 manikarandakavinyastavapusa krtrimenasivipavisadharena ( Yasastilaka); asivisavisadharopetaratnakarandakaprabhrtena (Nitivakyamrta). Envenomed gifts are familiar in Greek literature. In one version of the story of Medea she kills her rival Glauce by presenting her with a poisoned robe and crown. Cf. Euripides, Medea, 1116 sqq. and Diodorus Siculus, IV. 54. 6. The death of Heracles caused by 'the deadly robe' unwittingly sent by his aggrieved wife is the theme of the Trachiniae of Sophocles.

in the Pandya (Pandu) country Candarasa murdered king Mundira (Pundarika) with a dagger concealed in the lock of her hair." The danger from women is also illustrated by asserting that it is risky to educate them. Yasodhara says in Book IV (p. 152): icchan grhasyatmana eva santi striyam vidagdha khalu kah karoti | dugdhena yah posayate bhujangim pumsah kutastasya sumangalani || "Who doth ever make a woman excel in wisdom, desiring his domestic peace? How can a man, who nourishes a serpent with milk, profusely thrive?" This is not merely the opinion of a disillusioned husband. Somadeva makes 1. similar observation in Nitivakyamrta 24. 43: nativa striyo vyutpadaniyah svabhavasubhago'pi areer: atgarety; and the statement, in fact, occurs also in Yasastilaka, Book IV." Further, we are told that women may have as much freedom as they like in the discharge of their duties towards their husbands and children, but must not interfere in matters which properly belong to men's sphere, their minds being extremely fickle and superficial, like a drop of water on a lotus leaf. No one who accepts the participation of women in activities other than domestic duties can thrive for long, being like a tree fallen into the current of a river. And it is under a man's control that a woman can achieve her desired end, like a sword in the grip of a man.³ These statements are put in the mouth of Yasodhara, annoyed at the importunities of his mother in behalf of animal sacrifice, and remind one of the words of Eteocles, in Aeschylus' Septem Contra Thebas (200, 201), that 'outside affairs are men's business-let woman not advise thereon'. It may be added that the gist of what Yasodhara says occurs also in Nitivakyamrta (Chap. 24).* The narrow view of women's character and capacity to which Somadeva here gives expression should be considered in relation to what 1 Yasastilaka, Book IV (P. 153) and Nitivakyamrta (chapter on ). The anonymous commentary on the latter work remarks that the stories in question are found in the Brhatkatha. 2 ' svabhavasubhagaveso'pi ca sastropadesah strisu sastrisviva payolavah param paropaghatayaiva prabhavati | ' P. 152. 3 striyo hi nama bhavantu bhartrsu sayyavisaye putresu ca pratipalanasamaye prakamam nisrstartha nirankusacaranasamarthasca, na punah pauruseyesu karmasu | yasmat kamalinidalesu jalakanasyeva narinam manasascancalataratvadativa nihsaratvacca | puruso'pi grhakarya- danyatra striyam pramanayan nadipravahapatitah padapa iva na ciram nandati | stri tu purusamustisthita khadgayastiriva sadhayatyabhi • matamartham | ' P. 135. 4 'apatyaposane grhakarmani sarirasamskare sayanavasare strinam khatamtryam nampatra ' (39), 'sivasapurupo nadimamahapatita- padapa iva na ciram nandati ' (41) ; 'purusamustikha sri sahayastiriva kamutsarva na janayati ' (42) 14

is called rajaraksa or protection of kings, and is in keeping with the precaution against familiarity with women recommended as a measure of self-defence. There are no adequate grounds for holding that Somadeva is a misogynist. It is noteworthy that almost all the attacks on women in Yasastilaka are put in the mouth of Yasodhara and the Jaina ascetic Somadeva refers also to Sudatta, appropriately enough, it would seem. the Digambara Jaina doctrine that women are unfit for salvation', but he declares in emphatic terms that women are superior to men in the intellectual field (1. 146): dehayatte karmanyayam narah strijano'yamiti bhavati | cittayatte karmanyadhika nari tu madhyamah purusah || "Discrimination between men and women is valid in respect of physical activity. But women are superior and men inferior in intellectual activity." It may also be noted that Somadeva as a practical thinker tells us in Nitivakyamrta that women are neither good nor bad: they are, like the Ocean of Milk, the source of poison as well as nectar (24. 10), and have neither any innate merit nor blemish, but become just like their husbands, as rivers assume the character of the ocean when they are merged therein (24. 25). The Jaina author's position with regard to women is, in fact, similar to that of Kalhana as stated in a verse of his Rajatarangini (VII . 856), vrajati rajani tyaktva kvapi ksaye ksanadakaram padamupagatasyastam samdhya raveranugacchati | iti parinatau premanyuccavace paricintati kvacana niyamannindya vandya na va sudhiyam striyah || and The guiding principles of a king's policy in matters affecting peace war, and, generally speaking, his relations with other kings The are expounded in an academic discussion in verse in Book III.' framework of the discussion is provided by an examination of the relative claims of daiva and purusakara, a subject bearing on rajadharma, as already recognised in early texts like Yajnavalkya (1. 346 ff.). The king is also recommended to rule the kingdom, as a gardener looks after the garden (3. 107): vrksan kantakino bahirniyamayan vislesayan samhitanutkhatan pratiropayan kusumitamscinvamlaghun vardhayan | uccan samnamayan prthumsca krsayannatyucchritan patayan malakara iva prayoganipuno rajan mahim palaya || "Skilled in devising ways and means, rule the earth, like a gardener, o king: expelling the petty enemies, like thorny plants; disuniting the united; replanting the uprooted; collecting dues from the well-to-do, as a gardener gathers flowers from the blossoming trees; elevating the lowly, as a gardener rears the smaller plants; humbling the high-born, as he bends the tall-growing ones; reducing the great, as he thins out the thick underYasastilaka 1. 145. 2 See Chap VII.

5. YASASTILAKA AS A SOCIO-POLITICAL RECORD growths; and levelling the mighty, as he fells the lofty trees. however small, should be neglected (3. 108): 107 " No enemy, svalpadapi riporbijadasvatthasyeva sakhini | bhayam jayeta kalena tasmat kastamupeksate || "Even from the tiny germ of an enemy there might be cause of fear in the course of time, just as there might be danger to other trees even from a small seed of the Pippal. Who can therefore neglect an enemy?" The duties and qualifications of various officials of the king are dealt with by Somadeva in Yasastilaka as well as Nitivakyamrta. The Duta or envoy should be an aged Brahmana, learned, eloquent, forbearing in face of provocation and amiable: he should be efficient, courageous, pure, wise, bold and readywitted (3. 111). Even when an envoy is entrusted by his master with a provocative message, he should regulate his speech according to the temperament, character, or the resources of the king to whose court he is sent. To a proud enemy he should speak in conciliatory terms. To one well-versed in polity he should talk about principles. To one who is powerful he should speak about dissensions among his subjects; while to an enemy inferior in resources he should talk in terms of war. The responsibility of an envoy is shown by the fact that the prosperity of a king, however great, is endangered by the misconduct of envoys that are greedy and rough in the manner and content of their speech (3. 114-5): samkirtayet sama ripau sadarpe nayam sanitau balini prabhedam | mantrena tantrena ca hinavrttau dandasrayopayavidhim vidhijnah || anyatha - vagartharuksalubdhanam dutanam duhpravrttibhih | srih svaminah pravrddhapi kriyate samsayasraya || The commander-in-chief should be brave, experienced in the practice of arms and well-versed in the Arthasastra. He should be a skilled fighter, and well-provided with elephants, cavalry, infantry and chariots; and loyal to his master, and popular with the army (3. 245): suro'rthasastranipunah krtasastrakarma samgramakelicaturascaturangayuktah | bharturnidesavasago'bhimatah svatantre senapatirnarapatervijayagamaya || The Sandhivigrahin, officer in charge of peace and war', may be called the Secretary of state for foreign affairs. He is an important court official with varied functions. In Somadeva's romance, as we have seen above, he receives the envoys of friendly courts and ushers them into the king's presence; and deals also with the envoy of a hostile court , addresses him, and drafts a threatening letter to the enemy. The Sandhivigrahin is thus in charge of matters affecting peace and war; and he seems to be in close attendance on the king, for we find Yasodhara in

Book IV questioning the Sandhivigrahin about the sudden peals of music in the city. In Rajatarangini 4. 137-8 we have another glimpse of the functions of the Sandhivigrahin in the person of Mitrasarman, styled as the Sandhivigrahika of Lalitaditya, king of Kashmir, who is present at the drafting of the treaty between Lalitaditya and Yasovarman of Kanauj, and objects to the latter's name being recorded prior to his master's in the document in question. In Bana's Harsacarita (Book VI) we find Harsa, after his decision to punish the king of Gauda for treachery, dictating to his Sandhivigrahin Avanti, called Maha-sandhi-vigrahadhikrta, an arrogant proclamation calling upon all kings to accept his suzerainty or prepare for battle. It seems that there were sometimes more than one Sandhivigrahin in the same court: Somadeva, for instance, records what he calls 'the verses of the Sandhivigrahins' in the court of Yasodhara. The occasional addition of the epithet Maha to the usual designation shows that there was sometimes a chief official of that class. Among the new offices created by Lalitaditya (first half of the eighth century), as related in Rajatarangini 4. 142, mention is made of a Maha-sandhi-vigraha, which is also the appellation of Harsa's secretary for foreign affairs, as stated above. It may also be noted that one of the verses quoted from Vyasa in Apararka's commentary on Yajnavalkya 1. 319 refers to a Sandhi-vigrahalekhaka, obviously the same as Sandhivigrahin; but his function is to draft records of grants of land made by the king. It would appear that the Sandhivigrahin was a Secretary of State whose functions were not confined to the conduct of foreign affairs. Somadeva tells us that he should be able to read, write, narrate and interpret all scripts and languages: he should be ready-witted and capable of gauging the relative strength of his own master and other princes (8. 250): vacayati likhati kavate gamayati sarva lipisca bhasasca | atmaparasthitikusalah sapratibhah samdhivigrahi karyah || The Aksapatalika or the keeper of the state records is mentioned in connection with the challenge to other kings (3. 112, 113) issued by Yasodhara, similar to the one issued by Harsa in Bana's romance (see above). The Aksapatalika is here commissioned to read out the message to the envoy who was expected to deliver it to the kings in question. The 1 ' iti budhaprabodham samdhivigrahinamaprcchamane ' P. 157. 2 sriyasovarmanah samdhau samdhivigrahiko na yat | nayam niyamanalekhe mitrasarmasya caksame || so'bhut samdhiryasova lalitaditya • yoriti | likhitenadinirdesadanarhatvam vidan prabhoh || . 3 See above. '' Book III. 4 See Chap. II. 5 'dutamaksapatalikena tameva lekhayai sravayamasa .

Aksapatala, to judge from certain references in the Rajatarangini, was the royal archive containing the records of grants and deeds of gift, and the official who drafted the deeds of gift or made the necessary entries was called Pattopadhyaya.' The same work (5. 301) mentions an Aksapataladhisa, chief of the record office, obviously the same as Aksapatalika. Great importance is attached to the role of spies in the king's government; and they are regarded as a sort of second sight for him." The report of the spy in Book III provides a concrete example of the kind of information available to kings from this source, and gives us an idea of how minute and comprehensive such information could be. The importance of spies is stressed in the following verses of Yasastilaka (3. 116-7): sarvacetogatanarthan drastum yesam kutuhalam | te bhavantu param caraiscaksusmantah ksitisvarah || carasamcarato yesam nadhyaksa svaparasthitih | niyuktaratisampatattesam nartho na casavah || "Let those kings, who have the curiosity to visualise what is in the mind of every one, have spies only for eyes. Those who are not aware of the situation of themselves and others, through the movements of spies, are deprived of both wealth and life by the action of their officials and foes." The institution of spies is treated in great detail in all ancient works on Indian polity. Manu (7. 223) and Yajnavalkya (1. 330), for instance, lay down that the king should listen to the reports of spies after the evening ablutions, and, as Manu says, indoors, and the king should be armed while doing so. Yajnavalkya (1. 338-9) suggests what action should be taken by the king in regard to his officers on the reports of spies: those who take bribes, for instance, should be dispossessed and exiled. Espionage is dealt with in several chapters of Kautilya's Arthasastra, on which Somadeva's own treatment of the topic in Nitivakyamrta is based. In Yasastilaka, too, he is indebted to Kautilya (Chap. XI) in the description of Yasodhara's spy, disguised as a religious mendicant, and surrounded by disciples who proclaim his mystic powers. The expression siddhah samedhikah occurring in Yasastilaka, Book III, is taken from Kautilya (op. cit.); and the topic is, of course, elaborated in the romance. regards the report of the spy on the corruption of one of the ministers of Yasodhara, analysed elsewhere (Chap. II), its prototype may be found 2 As 1 Cf. rajna pradatte rangaya helugrame'graharavat | lilekha pattopadhyayo na yada danapattakam || tadaksapatalam gatva rangah kopat tamabravit | rangassa helu dinneti dasisuta na likhyate || 5 397-398. Kautilya deals with tho organisation of the Aksapatala in Arthasastra 2, 7; it was the Records and Accounts office combined. Yasastilaka 3. 173. 3 See Chap. IV.

in the Mahabharata (S'antiparva, chap. 82) in the story of the sage Kalakavrksiya, who, taking with him a crow credited with the power of soothsaying, goes round the capital of the king of Kosala and observes the evil ways of his ministers, and later reports to him all details of their corruption and conspiracies. Reference is made in Book III to the Chief of the secret agents called Varisthaka', and it is he who reports to the king the arrival of the spy from his tour. Srutasagara in his commentary seems to take Varisthaka as a proper name, but in Book IV we find a Varisthaka named Vaikunthamati, who brings, however, an ordinary message to the king. The spy in his report mentions also a chief of the emissaries or couriers (janghacarikanayaka). Srutasagara and Ms. A, however, explain the term janghacarika as a carapurusa, herika, a spy. The forms jangharika and janghakarika occur in Arthasastra II. I, but there the word is taken to mean 'messenger' or 'courier'.6 It is difficult to determine the exact significance of these terms, but there is no doubt that the Criminal Intelligence Department had many ramifications, and was as important in the tenth century as it was in the days of Kautilya. 5 We have already referred to Somadeva's description of the regiments of Yasodhara's army in connection with the review of troops, which is included by Yajnavalkya (1. 329) in the daily routine of the king. In Nitivakyamrta 22. 17 the king's neglect to review the troops personally is described as one of the causes of the disaffection of the army. Elephants and horses were two principal components of old Indian armies; and a number of verses occurs on the importance of the military role of these animals (2. 176, 180): bhayesu durgani jalesu setavo grhani margesu ranesu raksasah | manahprasadesu vinodavedhaso gaja ivanyat kimihasti vahanam || Elephants serve as fortresses in danger, as causeways in traversing waters, as houses on the wayside, and as monsters in battle. They give 1 See Chap. II. 2 ' janasrutimadayagatah sankhanakanama pranidhiriti gudhapurusadhisthayakadvaristhakadakarnya ' P. 400. 3 ......tadartham caiva nagare pauranamudyavodyamah | tatra devah kalavilambanamakrtva sajjibhavatu majjanadisu kriyasu ' ityagatya vaikunthamatina varisthakena vijnapte ............. P. 158. 4 'janghacarikanayakasya visvavasoh ' Printed text roads namakastha which is incorrect. Ms. A reads nayakasya . 5 srutasagara says carapurusapradhanasya . 6 See Shama Sastri's Translation and Word Index, and M. M. Ganapati Sastris ed.

delight in moments of joy: what other vehicle is there in the world, comparable to them? purah pratyakpaksa bhramibhirabhihantum vyavasite gataih sarvairgarvat samarasamaye sindhurapatau | vidirna matangaisturaganiva haiscapi dalitam rathaih prastam padvaih pisitakavalibhutamacirat || When, at the time of battle, a mighty elephant proudly begins to charge, stepping to and fro, and turning to the right and to the left, with all possible movements, the foeman's elephants are ere long pierced, the horses crushed, the chariots scattered, and the infantry reduced to pulp. The speed of elephants is praised in Yasastilaka 3. 309, and Somadeva, the writer on polity, goes as far as to offer salutation to elephants (2. 169): samodbhavaya subhalaksanalaksitaya divyatmane sakaladevaniketanaya | kalyanamangalamahotsava karanaya tubhyam namah karivaraya varaya nityam || A large number of technical terms appertaining to elephant lore is used in Books II and III. In the latter Book Somadeva enumerates the different methods of treatment applied to rutting elephants, and gives the names of certain kinds of elephants and the particular states of intoxication to which they are subject. For example, Names of elephants Vasumatitilaka Pattavardhana Uddhatankusa Paracakra-pramardana Ahitakula-kalanala Carcarivatamsa Vijayasekhara States of intoxication Samjata-tilaka Ardra-kapolika Adhonibandhini Gandhacarini Krodhini Ativartini Sambhinna-madamaryada The above details are in our work reported to the king by an army commander; and elephant-lore, like the science of horses, was regarded as an auxiliary branch of statecraft in view of the important part played by elephants in warfare. Like elephants, horses are also praised for their utility in war, and mention is made of various characteristics of efficient chargers. Particularly good are the well-trained ones with well-proportioned, symmetrical and compact limbs (2. 206). Good horses have large foreheads, mouths depressed on the outside, smooth skins, stout shoulders, long 1 'sosalamhanasamcayavyastara mukhavardhanakatavartha nakatasodhanapratibhedanapavardhana varnakara gandhakaroddipanahasabha vinivartanaprabheda madopaca • ropadesa bisarada ...... P. 495, 2 anyunadhikadehah samasuvibhaktasca vamebhih sarvaih| samhrtaghanangavandhah krtavinayah kamadasturaga | ||

112 MOYASASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE legs, broad backs and lean bellies (2. 203). Their colours are like those of pearls, or blue lotuses, or gold, or filaments of flowers, or collyrium, or bees, or the rising sun, or Asoka flowers, or parrots. The neighing of good horses is deep like the trumpeting of elephants, or the roar of lions, or the bellowing of oxen, or like the sound of trumpets, drums or clouds; and the smell of lotuses, blue lotuses, Malati flowers, clarified butter, honey, milk, or the perspiration of rutting elephants is present in their perspiration, mouths and ears (2. 197-9). Questions of food and drink are discussed in relation to health and physical well-being in a large number of verses (3. 321-74) attributed to the court physician Sajjana, alias Vaidyavidyavilasa, to whose words the king listens at meal-time. Sajjana is also described as one who gives instruction in the art of producing sixty-three varieties of flavours by primary and secondary combinations of the usual six, and Srutasagara in his commentary gives a formidable list of these combinations. Sound dietetics is a subject intimately connected with the welfare of the king, and accordingly given a place in Somadeva's discourse on the art of government. Sajjana says many sensible things. Addressing the king, he remarks that just as food is not well cooked in a vessel that is neither covered nor stirred, so a man who has neither sleep nor exercise cannot digest what he eats (3.322). He who gorges himself with food gluttonously even when he is not hungry stirs up diseases, like dormant snakes, for his own ruin (3.329). All stale food with the exception of clarified butter and liquids, food containing hair or worms, and rechauffes should be avoided (3.344); and abstain from overeating, undereating, eating of should also combinations of hygienic and unhygienic food, and eating immediately after eating (3.345).³ one summer mild Certain kinds of food are recommended for particular reasons. In the autumn one should take sweet, bitter and astringent things; in the rainy season and the winter sweet, salty and sour things; in the spring pungent, bitter and astringent things; and in the preparations (3.349). Again, in the winter one should take fresh food, preparations of milk, pulses, and sugarcane, curds, and things prepared with ghee; and oil, too, is beneficial (3.350). In the spring one should take food consisting chiefly of barley and wheat, and containing little ghee, and avoid 1 visala bhaka bahiranatasyah suksmatvacah pivaravahudesah | sudirghajanghah prthuprasthamadhyastanudarah kamakrtasturangah || . 2 'rasanam gusamsargabhedena trisastijya janopadesabhajah sajjanabhisajah ', 3 ' atyasanam ladhvane samasanamadhyasanamatra samkhyatyam '.

heavy, cold and sweet dishes (3.351). On hot days one should take Sali rice, Moog soup containing ghee, lotus stalks, fresh shoots and bulbs, fried barley flour, sherbets, curds mixed with sugar and spices, coconut-milk, and water or milk with plenty of sugar (3.352). In the rainy season the food should be dry light, oily and warm; and preparations of old Sali rice, wheat and barley should be taken (3.353). In the autumn the diet should consist of ghee, moog, Sali rice, powdered wheat, preparations of milk, patolas, grapes, Amalaki fruits, sugar, and sweet bulbs and leaves (3.354)." A number of vegetables including slices of fresh ginger is praised in 3.356*, and the properties of ghee, curds, butter and milk are described in verses 3.360-63. We are also told that the constant eating of over-sweet dishes leads to indigestion, too much of salty food causes weakening of vision, extremely sour and pungent dishes lead to physical decay, and any unhygienic food causes loss of strength as soon as it is taken (3.364). Certain remedies are suggested for indigestion (3.366), and emphasis is laid on the proper use of water. Water is called both amrta and visa; properly used, it is amrta, nectar, and used without proper care, it is visa, poison (3.368). Transparent water without any taste and smell, and swept by wind and sunshine, is beneficial by nature; in all other cases water should be boiled before drinking. Water exposed to the rays of the sun and the moon should not be used longer than a day and a night; water boiled in daytime should not be taken at night, and water boiled at night should not be taken in daytime (3. 370-1). Examination of food and detection of poison is dealt with in a number of verses; and the subject has, of course, an important bearing on the safety of the king, and is exhaustively dealt with in Kautilya's Arthasastra I. XXI. Speaking of poison, the court physician mentions certain phenomena indicating its presence in food. He observes that, at the sight of poison, crows and cuckoos cry in an unwonted fashion, mungooses and peacocks are overjoyed, the Kraunca bird sleeps, the cock crows in a harsh tone, the parrot vomits, and the monkey evacuates bowels; while the eyes of the Cakora bird lose colour, and the goose limps. Besides, flies do not settle on food containing poison (3. 338-9). Addressing the king, Sajjana further remarks that fire crackles in contact with food mixed with poison, as it does when a quantity of salt is thrown into it (3. 340). 1 ghrtam mudgah salih samithavikrtih ksiravidhayah patolam mrdvikah phalamiha ca dhatryah samucitam | sita sitacchaya madhurasavasam kandakupalam saratkale sevyam rajanivadane candrakiranah || . 2 valam vrntakam kohalam karavelam cilli jivanti vastulastanduliyah | sadyah sambhrstah parpatascirbhatantah kim svarlokaisceva phalayascardrakasya || . 15

Certain kinds of food are forbidden under given circumstances, for example, germinating paddy, and ghee kept in a brass vessel for a period of ten days (3. 341). Further, bananas should not be taken with curds and butter-milk nor milk with salt..... .........nor broth of pulses with radishes; fried barley powder should not be taken when it becomes compact like curds, and all sesamum preparations are prohibited at night (3. 342-43). The discourse on food and drink shows the importance attached by Somadeva to a proper understanding of dietetics for the safety and physical wellbeing of the king and the efficient discharge of his duties . It shows also the Jaina teacher's keen interest in the secular branches of study. It is evident that Somadeva in Yasastilaka does not go over the entire range of topics dealt with in the nitisastras, but rather concentrates on problems affecting the king personally and the role played by him in the administration of the state. Considered from this point of view, the relevant portion of Yasastilaka reminds one of the Mirrors or manuals of instruction for the guidance of kings, which were widely prevalent in the Middle Ages in the West, such as the book of Agapetos, the tutor of the Emperor Justinian (sixth century A. D.), and specially the famous Secretum Secretorum attributed to Aristotle, many versions of which are known to exist in different languages. There are, for instance, Latin texts not earlier than the twelfth century, which 'in their turn rest on Arabic originals'. We may here refer to two English versions, the first from a shortened French source, the second from a Latin source made soon after 1400 A. D. The Prologue to the first version tells us that the book was translated from Greek into Syriac, and thence into Arabic. It is interesting to find that although Somadeva's discourse is far more systematic and methodical, and more intimately connected with the actual problems of administration, there are certain noteworthy points of resemblance batween his work and the Secretum Secretorum. Firstly, as in Yasastilaka, the king is warned in the Secretum never to trust a woman, and it is also pointed out that many kings have been poisoned, a woman's hate being the worst poison. Secondly, both works treat of questions of health and food and drink; and proportionately speaking, the Secretum seems to attach even greater importance to the subject 1 Cf. the treatise on diet composed by Anthimus, a Byzantine doctor, for the Frank king Clovis (481-511 A. D.), to whom he had been sent by Theoderic the Great. 2 J. R. A. S. 1908, pp. 1065-1084. 3 See Three Prose Versions of the Secreta Secretorum, ed. Steele. Part I. Text an Glossary. (Early English Text Society). 4 Pp. 20, 64.

than our text. Both works deal with the seasons and the kinds of food appropriate to each of them; and the Secretum, too, speaks of forbidden combinations of food, e. g., milk and flesh. Thirdly, the qualities of secretaries, messengers, and counsellors are dealt with in the Secretum as in Yasastilaka, although the subject, is treated far more exhaustively by Somadeva with concrete details and illustrations. The opinion of the Secretum that the king should have five counsellors, or not less than three, if five are not available, may be compared with Somadeva's recommendation in Nitivakyamrta that the number of ministers should be three or five or seven. On the other hand, the author of Yasastilaka does not evince any interest in certain topics dealt with at length in the Secretum e. g., physiognomy, miraculous properties of plants, magic stones etc. 3 It is a noteworthy feature of Somadeva as a political thinker that he divests himself of his theological bias while treating of the problems of the state. For example, as an exponent of Jaina doctrines he severely condemns the Lokayatika or materialistic view of life, but in Nitivakyamrta 6. 33 he declares that a king conversant with the Lokayatika system is capable of exterminating the malefactors of the state. Similarly, while emphasizing the importance of Dharma, he declares in the same work that he who solely devotes himself to Dharma, overriding the claims of Artha and Kama, is like a man who tills a forest, abandoning a ripe cornfield (1. 44). It is also noteworthy that at the beginning of Nitivakyamrta Somadeva offers obeisance not to the Arhat but to the State (Rajya); and his method of approach to the problems of government is certainly not that of a Jaina theologian but that of an unbiassed thinker with considerable knowledge and experience of the affairs of the state. The non-theological attitude of the Jaina author in matters affecting the state may be contrasted with the outlook of certain Western political thinkers of the Carolingian age, who were Churchmen and 'approached the questions at issue through theology'. The aim of writers like Smaragdus, Jonas and Sedulius, who paid attention to the problem of government in the first half of the ninth century, and wrote hortatory treatises, contrasting the good and the bad ruler, is, generally speaking, to produce, as it were, manuals of Christian ethics for Christian rulers'. Admonitions such as 1 Pp. 27, 72. 2 P. 76. 3 Pp. 98, 101. 4 See Chap. VIII. 5 Laistner: Thought and Letters in Western Europe (A. D. 500 to 900), p. 261.

that the Christian ruler must trust in divine aid rather than in his own courage and that of his troops' would have appeared highly incongruous to the Jaina thinker. Somadeva's ideal of kingship is evident from his description of the life of Yasodhara as a ruler. In presenting before us a picture of his activities, the author of Yasastilaka does not attempt to make him a paragon of virtue or even a hero, but is content to depict him as a prince diligent in discharging the duties that devolve upon him as the ruler of the state. Yet he came to an untimely end, because of his failure to take precaution against a woman's perfidy; and his example is intended to be an object lesson for other kings to profit by. Yasodhara , as represented by Somadeva, is very different from the Syrian king , mentioned by Dio Chrysostom,' who spent his life indoors with eunuchs and concubines without even a glimpse of army or war or assembly at all. It may be noted that Dio insists on virile pursuits for the king, and considers hunting to be the best recreation for him.' Yasodhara does not indeed indulge in hunting, but we see him training elephants and armouring their tusks and practising archery. More questionable is his participation in the summer sports and the gaieties of moonrise in the company of young women, as described in Yasastilaka , Book III; but this may be regarded as a concession to prevailing custom and the conventions of kavya poetry, and is certainly contrary to Somadeva's considered opinion against the association of the king with the women of the harem. Somadeva's discourse on the problems of government in Yasastilaka is doubtless unparalleled in kavya literature, but it should be remembered that earlier poets like Bharavi, Magha, Bhatti, and Ratnakara also deal with aspects of Niti especially in relation to matters affecting peace and war; while Bana's interest in the duties and responsibilities of kingship is revealed in Sukanasa's advice to Candrapida. Further, Bana, like Somadeva, records in Harsacarita, Book VI, a large number of semi-legendary traditions illustrating the mortal danger to kings from carelessness and risky adventures and from the machinations of women. Somadeva and Bana both seem to draw on earlier sources, as similar stories, for instance, those about women murdering kings, are also found in Kautilya's Arthasastra I. XX and Kamandaka's Nitisara 7. 11. 51 ff. 1 In the Fourth Discourse on Kingship. Dio was a Greek moralist of the first century A. D. 2 In the Third Discourse on Kingship.

The interesting data concerning religious conditions in the tenth century, preserved in our text, constitute a large mass of information which has been analysed in subsequent chapters; and we may here confine ourselves to Somadeva's references to social conditions proper. The charges brought by the spy against the king's minister, a provincial governor, in Book III, point to certain potential abuses of the times, and similar incidents are mentioned also in Rajatarangini. The spy, for instance, says (3. 172): vapasamayesu vistih siddhayah ksirikanisakalesu | lavanavasaresu punah svacchandah sainikabadhah || The minister is alleged to be responsible for three things: demanding unpaid labour at the time of sowing, collection of dues while the ears of corn are still unripe, and the unbridled movement of troops at the harvesting season. In Nitivakyamrta 19. 15, 16 Somadeva says that the collection of dues (siddhadaya) while the ears of corn are unripe depopulates a country, and the movement of troops at the time of harvest leads to famine.' As regards unpaid or forced labour (visti), it goes back to early times; and Kautilya says in Arthasastra II. I that the king should protect agriculture from the abuses of fines, forced labour, and taxation." Forced labour seems to have been the poor mans terror as we learn from the parable of the foolish son in Saddharmapundarika, wherein the vagrant youth comes after years to beg at the mansion of his wealthy father, and taking the latter for a king or a grandee, fears lest he should be detained to do forced labour, and slinks away in a hurry.³ The grant of a village sometimes carried with it the right to unpaid labour within the area granted. A record of the Rastrakuta king Indra III, dated 915 A. D., grants, for instance, a village called Tenna to a Brahmana with the accompanying right to forced labour as occasion presents itself.* Somadeva, it should be noted, takes exception to forced labour only at the time of sowing. It is also alleged by the spy that Yasodhara's minister misappropriates agraharas and devabhogas. Agraharas are villages granted to Brahmanas, and devabhogas are temple endowments (villages, cornfields 1 'ksirisu kanisesu siddhadayo janapadamudvasayati ', 'lavanakale senapracaro durbhiksamavahati | " 2 'dandavistikarabadhai raksedupahatam krsim '. 3 'ma dani dosam pi labheyamatra grhitva vestim pi ca karayeyam ' IV. 17. 4: B. I. Vol. IX (Two grants of Indraraja III). 5 Yasastilaka 3. 236 quoted in Chap. II (q. v.)

etc.); and the two terms are sometimes mentioned together, e. g., in the aforesaid grant of Indra III (verse 24). It was, of course, an abuse of power to rob the grantees of their legitimate rights, and similar instances are also recorded in the Rajatarangini. For example, during the reign of Avantivarman (855-883 A. D.) a powerful feudal baron was beheaded under the orders of the minister Sura for the crime of robbing the temple of Bhutesa of villages (5. 52 ff.). Some of the later kings of Kashmir were themselves notorious for such usurpations, notably Samkaravarman (883-902 A. D.), Kalasa (1063-89 A. D.), and Harsa (1089-1101 A. D.). Kalhana deplores the fact that Gauraka, the aged and virtuous minister of Harsa, accepted the post of Arthanayaka (Prefect of Wealth) for the confiscation of the villages and the entire property of all the temples of the gods (7. 1103-4). The next charge against the minister is that he melts down the images of the gods and replaces them by those of lesser value; he also sells an image, and with the proceeds institutes a religious festival. The motives of the minister are evidently not only cupidity but a show of piety Be that as it may, the practice of melting down images by greedy monarchs is wellknown in history and found not only in India but also elsewhere; it was a form of sacrilege akin to the plunder of temples practised by many kings for the treasury. The Rajatarangini has a good deal to say about such prac. tices being resorted to by the kings of Kashmir. Samkaravarman plundered sixty-four temples of the gods (5. 169). Kalasa removed the copper image of the Sun called Tamrasvamin, and carried away also the brass statues from the Viharas (7. 696). The climax came during the reign of Harsa, who, after plundering the treasures of the temples granted by former kings, turned his attention to the images, and appointed an officer called the Prefect for the uprooting of the gods (devotpatana-nayaka), with the result that images of gods made of gold, silver and other metals rolled in filth in the streets, like faggots of wood (7. 1089 ff.). Another king of Kashmir Ksemagupta (950-958 A. D.), a contemporary of Somadeva, used the brass from a statue of Buddha in building the shrine of Ksema-Gaurisvara, a show of piety comparable to that of Yasodhara's minister (6. 172-3). Turning elsewhere, we find that towards the end of the twelfth century a prince of Gujarat, Prahladanadeva, the author of Parthaparakrama Vyayoga and founder of Palanpur, melted a brass statue of Jina for making a bull for the Acalesvara temple; and there is a legend that he was stricken with leprosy as a result of the sin, but cured himself by building a monastery 1 Ibid. 3. 227, 235 quoted in Chap. II (q. v.)

and setting up therein Jaina statues and shrines.' The references in Yasastilaka would lead one to suppose that the melting down of images to meet financial needs was not unknown in the Deccan in the tenth century, and Somadeva's statements may be taken as a kind of protest against the practice being resorted to by provincial governors. It may be mentioned in this connection that, elsewhere, during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus (1081-1118 A. D.), Leo, Bishop of Chalcedon, came to grief for protesting against the melting down of icons for purposes of filling the imperial treasury'.3 The spy in his report describes Yasodhara's minister as a monster of financial corruption (lanca-lunca-nisacarah 3. 185). Lanca or lanca is bribery, while lunod is extortion; and the phrase is used in the sense of financial corruption in general. Somadeva deals with the subject in his Nitivakyamrta and describes lancalunca as the source of all evils. Financial malpractice represents the seamy side of government, and Somadeva exhorts the king not to allow persons who come on business to become the victims of rapacious officials." Glimpses of economic prosperity are occasionally afforded by our work. The description of a prosperous dairy-farm of Karahata occurring in Book V has been translated in the previous chapter. More interesting is the description of the mart owned and run by the trusted priest Sribhuti in the story recounted in Yasastilaka, Book VII, section 27. We are told that 1 See Dalal's Introduction to the play in G. O. S. 2 Classical antiquity provides instances of rapacious princes laying sacrilegious hands on costly images. Clement of Alexandria (second century A. D.) reports in his Exhortation to the Greeks (Chap. IV) that the tyrant Dionysius the younger stripped the statue of Zeus in Sicily of its golden cloak and ordered it to be clothed with a woolen one; while Antiochus of Cyzicus, a Greek city of Asia Minor, when he was in want of money, ordered the golden statue of Zeus, fifteen cubits high, to be melted down, and a similar statue of cheaper material covered with gold leaf to be set up in its place. 3 Hussey: Church and Learning in the Byzantine Empire, p. 94. 4 Lanca, 'bribe', is used in Pali, being peculiar to the Jataka literature. See Rhys Davids: Pali-English Dictionary. Cf. Pali lancakhadaka, 'bribe-eater'. The Bengali expression ghuskhor means the same thing. Compare also laca khane in Marathi and lanca tinnu in Kannada. 5 'karyarthinah purusan labbalanisacaranam bhutabalinna kuryat '; 'lancaluca hi sarvapatakanamagamanadvaram '; 'matuh tuff:' etc. Srutasagara in his comm. on Yasastilaka 3. 185 explains labnaluncanisacarah 88 utkota ( ca 1 ) trotane raksasah The anonymous comm. on Nitivakyamrta says lagnaluvanisacaranam lunnakasabdena (laksasabdena ?) utkocah lusvasabdena balatkarah eta eva nisacara raksasah Farther on it says labrena balatkaragrahanena, also lacana karyakarane balatkarena harane . There is some confusion of meaning, but the expression as a whole signifies extortion or unlawful exactions by the king or his officials. Somadeva remarks in Nitivakyamrta (op. cit.): rato lacena karyakarane kasya nama kalyanamh

the mart (penthasthana) was furnished with tents containing many compart ments and large stores of merchandise, with stalls for cattle nearby. Water, fodder and fire-wood were easily available, and the establishment covered an area of about four miles. It was closely guarded by troops, and protected by moats, gates, walls and ramparts, and had avenues with arrangements for water-supply, eating houses, assembly halls, and warehouses for different classes of commodities. Gamblers, whoremongers, jesters and dancing masters were excluded from the precincts of the mart. Here merchants from many countries were allowed to carry on their business, the rates of toll and rent being extremely moderate. The mart maintained by Sribhuti seems to be entirely a private organisation, but in Nitivakyamrta 19. 21 Somadeva speaks of pintha (sic) as a state organisation, and observes that a mart 'maintained with justice' is a source of endless profits to the king. The commentary on the latter work explains pintha as sulkasthana, and quotes a verse from Sukra to the effect that toll should not be realised at excessive rates, and whatever is stolen by thieves from the mart should be restored to the merchants by the king from his own treasury. The pinthi is described in Nitivakyamrta as panyaputabhedini, explained in the commen tary as containing diverse places for storing commodities, and it seems to have had an elaborate organisation, to judge from the description in Yasas tilaka. The granting of proper facilities and protection to merchants was the chief aim of these emporiums, which were also an important source of revenue to the state. 2 References to the fine arts are few and far between in' our work, An interesting statuary group is presented in the description of the Pavilion of mechanical showers in Book III.' The account of the Jaina temple in Book V is chiefly remarkable for its paintings, of which two categories are mentioned. Firstly, there are portraits of wellknown figures of Jaina legend and mythology, viz. Bahubali the warrior saint," Pradyumna whose austerities 1 ' sa kila sribhutirvisvasarasanirvighnataya paropakaranighnataya ca vibhaktane kapavarakaracanasalini bhirmahabhandavahinibhirgo salopasalyabhih kulyabhih samanvitam, atisulabhajalayavasendhanapracaram, bhandanarambhodbhatabharira petakapaksaraksasaram, gorutapramanam vapraprakarapratoli parikhaparisutritatranam prapasatrasabhasanathavithinivesanam panyaputabhedanam vidurita kitava vitavid sakapithamardavasthanam penthasthanam vinirmampya nanadigdesopasarpanayujam vanijam prasantasulka bhatakabhagahara vyavahara maci karat | p. 345. 2 'nyayena raksita panyaputabhedini pintha rajnam kamadhenuh . 3 tatha ca sukrah - grahyam naivadhikam sulkam caurairyaccahrtam bhavet | pinthayam mubhuja deyam vanijam tat svakosatah || 4 'panyani vanigjananam kumkumahimguvastradini ryanakani tesam putah sthanani bhidyante yasyam sa panyaputabhedini | ' 5 See Chap. II. 6 'sukavikrtiriva citrabahula ' p. 246. 7 ' vijaya seneva bahubali vidita .

are celebrated in Jaina legend,' the Tirthamkara Suparsva, and king Asokacandra and his consort Rohini, the woman who did not know how to weep. Secondly, there are representations of most of the dreams of Rsabha Jina's mother, e. g., the Airavata elephant, a bull, a lion, the goddess Laksmi, the sun and the moon, a lotus-pool, the ocean, flames, a heap of jewels, and an aerial car. Further, the temple is described as being marked with two fish, like the Mudra of the Pandyan kings. The figures of fish were apparently painted on the walls, a pair of fish being included among the eight auspicious objects of the Jainas. It may be noted in this connection that the fish appears also in early Christian art where it 'recalled the name of Jesus, as Christ, Son of God and Saviour'. Pandyan mudra, it might mean seal or coin or perhaps both. "gold coins bearing the emblem universally adopted by the Pandyas in later times, viz. the fish have been attributed to a period from the 7 th to the 10 th century A. D." It is extremely probable that Somadeva actually saw Pandyan coins with the double fish emblem. "T As regards the We know that In the course of the description of the Jaina temple Somadeva refers to two technical terms of painting: rupagunanika 'the study of figures' and parsvagata the side view proper', being one of the nine different positions in which the figures may appear. Visnudharmottara 39. 1 (Part III) says, nava sthandni rupanam. 10 Writing in ink on ivory slabs is mentioned in Book I." In Book III Somadeva refers to a gold ring with the figure of Laksmi stamped on 1 'prakatara tijivitesa '. Ms. A romarks prakatah kamo yatra, pradyumnasvami citralikhito yatra . 2 'suparsvagata '. 3'. For the story see the Katha of Kanakakusala. 4 'samnihitairavata "asinasaurabheya " citralikhitasvapnavali . 5 'pandyamudreva sakuliyugalankita '. 'nilinopakanthakanthiravaramopasobhita ' etc. Ms. A remarks 6 Foakes Jackson: History of Christianity A. D. 590-1314, p. 35. 7 Rapson: Indian Coins, p. 36. 8 Prof. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri writes to me that the Pandyan emblem was always a pair of fish-both lanchana and dhvaja. Jayanagara of E. Java (1309-28) who called himself Sundarapandyadevadhisvara-nama-rajabhiseka also had a pair of fish for his mark on his seal. Pandyan coins with fishes on them are noticed also by Hultzsch in Indian Antiquary, Vol. 21, p. 324 and by Codrington: Ceylon coins and currency, pp. 86-89. l', which refers also to the Tirthamkara Suparsva by . 10 See also Kramrisch: Vishnudharmottara, p. 13. 11 'dviradaradaphalakamasi likhita lipispardhini ' P. 79. 16

Glass bangles are mentioned in Book IV. Shopfronts of garlandsellers, stalls of dealers in perfumes, Band streets full of courtesans and women messengers form part of the description of evening scenery at the beginning of Book IV The gorgeous apartments of the queen are located on the top floor of a seven-storied palace, and a Jaina shrine is described as being on the top floor of a seven-storied palace belonging to a wealthy merchant in a story in Book VI, section 12. Palaces whence elephant-races witnessed are mentioned in Books III and VII, section 32,tephant-races were witnessed are mentioned in Books Iti and VII, section 32. merch The prevalence of early marriage is attested both in Yasastilaka work (Book VI, and Nitivakyamrta. A speaker in a story in the former wo section 19) identifies heaven with the mutual love of a maiden, twelve years of a and a youth of sixteens; while in Nitivakyamrta 31. 1 it is clearly said that a maiden and a youth of the age specified above are fit for marital relations. a maiden and a youth of the age specified above are fit for marital relations. Certain details concerning crime and punishment are preserved in Yasastilaka. In a story in Book VII, section story in Book VII, section 27, the priest Sribhuti who is found guilty of breach of trust is given three choices by the king he must either swallow three bowls of cow-dung or receive thirty-three blows Hee to be given by powerful wrestlers, or forfeit his entire property . When he chooses the latter alternative, all his wealth is confiscated ; and he is smeared with clay teeming with worms, and made to wear garlands of ty seated on the potsherds and abandoned platters, and expelled from the city back of a donkey. Similar treatment is meted out to Parvata by the enraged citizens in a story in Book VII, section 30. He is pelted with clods of earth and severely whipped and turned out of the city on the back of a donkey, clothed in rags from the cremation ground, and wearing a garland donkey, clot acs from the cremation ground, and wearing a garland 1 'laksmimudrankam gangeyormikamiva ' p. 394. 2 ' ko nu khalu vighatitam cetah sphatikavalayamiva mudhapi samdhatumarhati ' P. 77. 3 'sragajivinamapanarangabhagesu ' p. 18. yamiva suvapi samdhasarhati ' P. 77. 4 'saugandhikanam vipanivistaresu ' p. 18. 5 6 panyanganasamitibhih samcarika nikayena ca samakulesu rajavithimandalesu ' p. 19. ' saptatalaprasadoparitanabhagavartini vasabhavane Book IV, p. 29. A partially ruined palace, known as the Kushk Mahal, at Chanderi, now in Gwalior state, has been identified as a seven-storied palace ordered to be built by Mahmud Shah of Malwa in 1445. Only the remains of four stories now exist. Percy Brown: Indian Architecture, Vol. y Brown Indian Architecture, Vol II, p. 65. remains of four stories now exis 7 'rajasindhurapradhavasamdarsanaprasadasampadanaya '; 'pradhavadharanisu karivinodavilokanadohadam prasadamadhyasya ' Vol. I, 7 p. 495; Vol. II, 369. prabhavavaranisu kare vinodavilokanadohadam prasadamadhyas prasadamadhya ' Vol. I 8 'dvadasavarsa stri sodasavarsah purusah | tayoranyonyamananyasamanya sneharasotsekapradurbhutih pritih svargah | ' p. 317. 9 'dvadasavarsa stri sodasavarsah puman praptavyavaharau bhavatah ' 9 STEETS svargah| P. 317.

the head shaven at random with the blade held in the of platters, with the head shaven at random with the blade held in the reverse direction, and Bilva fruits suspended from the tuft of hair on the crest of the head. As we have already seen, the envoy of the king of Pancala was threatened with humiliation of this nature on account of the hostility of his master to Yasodhara. In another story in Book VII, section 31, the libertine Kadarapinga and his father, the minister Ugrasena, who connived at his adulterous adventure, are exiled by the king after indictment in the presence of all the people. Public humiliation of the kind noticed here seems to have been reserved for respectable offenders, and is heard of in the annals of other countries as well. In the eighth century at Rome, for example, the deposed Pope Constantine, after he was blinded, 'was led in derision through the streets seated on a horse with a woman's saddle and heavy weights attached to his feet. Somadeva refers also to the torture of thieves and the indignities heaped upon them. In Yasastilaka, Book V, in the episode of king Sudatta, a thief accused of robbing and murdering a barber is condemned by the judges to picturesque imprisonment (citro bandhah) so that he might lose his life in ten or twelve days, the preliminary indignities to be inflicted on him being riding a donkey, and fastening round the neck a row of cast off earthen vessels.² Certain details about cruelty imals are recorded in our wor In one oCertain details about cruelty to animals are recorded in our work, In one of the birth-stories in Book V, a buffalo is tortured to death with revolting cruelty for killing the king's horse; and the incident is described also in Haribhadra's Samaraiccakaha. We are told that the feet of the animal were tied together, and burning coals heaped upon the body, while salt water was poured over the wounds, and he was allowed to drink water mixed with boiled extracts of peppers. On the other hand, the epitaphs on the dog and the peacock who were accidentally killed, as related in another story in the same Book, bear testimony to the love of animals, It is interesting to note that a contemporary record, the Atakur inscription of the Ganga ruler Butuga II, who took part in the battle of Takkolam in 949 A. D., tells us that Manalara who fought in front of him in the battle made a gift of land in memory of a hound, who had attacked and killed a boar, but was himself killed in the fight." 3 pravasayat ' P.366. 1 'nikhilajanasamaksamaksaranapurvakam pravasayat ' p. 366. sthavidambanapurvaka citra bandhah kanyo yathaya navanijo dasa- 2 'tadasya pataccarasya cakrivadarohanocchistasala jirara jibandha vidambanapurvakascitro bandhah kartavyo yathayam naksatravanijo dasa- bhirdvadasabhirva divasairasun visrjati | ' p. 245. 3 See Chap. III of this book. 4 See Chapters II and VII, Aarhusa Aistory, Vol. 1, p. 97. 5 Sources of Karnataka History, Vol. I, p. 97.