Question

Ancient indian political thought : kautilya and shanti parva

Answer 1

Shantiparva is collection of political philosophy of Bhishma, Vyasa and various other sages of that   time  

Explanation:

Political Thought - Shanti Parva

Duties of the King

• According to Bhishma the King's primary responsibility was to preserve "dharma" and "prajahit," i.e. public welfare. In the first place, the King can conquer &attempt to subdue his enemies. Bhishma states that the king has to give up his like & dislikes when explaining the sense of King's power. The King should rule without fear and rule on the grounds of dharma and always act impartially.
• The king ought to be generous & pure according to this great debate, and not to relinquish his tasks against his subject. The King ought to make wealth without injustice and cruelty, pursue prosperity without compulsion, be fair, be honest, and never hit in ignorance, and so on.  Several of the king's most critical duties is to defend citizens from "internal & external hazards. The king is the administration's fountain head and can therefore do such things as reinforce the sense of dharma in the "emotional mind of the common citizen".
• The king should take strict measures to monitor the situation anytime an emergency happens. The usual laws must be suspended at those occasions and the king must function rather prudently. If the people are in need, the King should always be able to support them
• The King's wealth is embedded in every success and good behaviour, self-managed, modest, noble, managed by his zeal, beautiful-looking, not too enquiring; it is never a loser of prosperity.

Governance

• The word rajdharma in Shantiparva covers political and administrative roles and responsibilities. Peace and stability are preserved in the state only by the legislature. The king always guarantees the welfare of all in society by government and can handle things in a way where everybody has a very comfortable life in society. The central goal of govt is to provide justice to all without prejudice and to be provided the grounds of dharma. In the monarchy, the King is the highest of government and oversees all legislative bodies. If everything is done in the same way and all is in the same direction it  implies  good governance.
• The government has three bodies: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The executive, including the king, ministers and other leaders, has therefore been granted intense priority. The strong and successful ministers without whom the King can not function in the right way, have been given  considerable significance by Bhishma. The Ministers are the backbone of the government, and the King should only select the educated, dutiful, trustworthy , reliable and obedient ministers.
• The King honours the advice offered by the "Purohits" whose primary function was to lead the King on the right direction, having first developed the virtues of truthfulness, pureness, veracity, general temperament, knowledge of scriptures, conduct, creation, self-control, goodness, strength, humility and forgiveness.

Political Thought by Kautilya

• As a weapon in order to govern his society and rivals, Kautilya employed force. He felt it was the royal responsibility to achieve worldly profit, moral happiness and enjoyment. He believed. In Kautilya 's view a king must establish resources, military powers and conquer the kingdoms and raise the size of his state in order to accomplish these three objectives. He believed the king had to learn the four vedas and the four governmental sciences (Anviksiki./Trayi/Varta/Dandaniti) for the effective runningof administration and for the welfare of people. Kautilya called politics the ultimate science and art.
• Arthasashtra Kautilya is a marvellous study in ancient political thought, probably made between the 3rd & 2nd centuries B.C.'s Kautilya was Chandragupta Maurya 's great Prime Minister. Arthashastra of Kautilya is primarily a governmental work. The King was the subject of his political and administrative theories.