Heera Singh

Student ID-20185072

The Idea of Kingship in Epic Mahabharata

Introduction
The Mahabharata is one of the most important texts of ancient Indian, indeed world
literature. At one hundred thousand verses, it is the longest epic poem ever written, generally
thought to have been composed in the 4th century BCE or earlier. This epic is divided into 18
parvans, or sections, plus a supplement titled Harivamsha. Its authorship is traditionally
ascribed to the sage Vyasa, who appears in the work as the grandfather of the Kauravas and the
Pandavas1. It is regarded by Hindus as both a text about dharma and a history. The main story
of Mahabharata revolves around two branches of a family the Pandavas and Kauravas, who in
the Kurukshetra War, battle for the throne of Hastinapura. Interwoven into this narrative are
several smaller stories about people dead or living, and philosophical discourses. 2 Shanti Parva
of Mahabharat has its own significance because of its political ideas. The Mahabharat theorists
appraises Bhishma’s discourses in the Shanti Parva as its most authoritative exposition of
rajadharma , Dandniti, Shasanpadhiti, origin of state etc3. In this paper we will try to re-examine
the idea of an ideal kingship given in this specific chapter called shanti parva.

Shanti Parva
The Shanti Parva literally means in Sanskrit "Book of Peace". Of all the eighteen parvas of
the Mahabharata Santiparva is the most enormous one. It further has three sub-parvas
namely Rajdharm anusasana parva, Aapaddharma parva and Moksha dharma parva. On the
whole, it consists of 365 chapters and 13,716 numbers of slokas. The book is set after the war is
over and the two sides have accepted peace then Yudhishthira starts his rule of the Pandava
kingdom. The Shanti parva recites the duties of the ruler, dharma and good governance, as
counseled by the dying Bhishma and various Rishis.

Dharma in State
Shanti parva defines dharma not in terms of rituals or any religious precepts, but in terms of
that which increases Satya (truth), Ahimsa (non-violence), Asteya (non-stealing of property
created by another), Shoucham (purity), and Dama (restraint)4. When Yudhiùñhira ask a
questions to Bhishma as following :-

1
Doniger, Wendy. Mahabharata, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., Date Published: April 04, 2019, URL:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mahabharata, Access Date: April 29, 2020.
2
Basu, Anindita. "Mahabharata." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified August 25, 2016.
https://www.ancient.eu/Mahabharata/.
3
Garg, Sushma. "POLITICAL IDEAS OF SHANTI PARVA." The Indian Journal of Political Science 65, no. 1 (2004): 77-
86. Accessed April 29, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/41855798.
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Such a person never sees his own misconduct in other persons.

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mitraiþ prahyamõasya bahvamitrasya k gatiþ |
rj aþ saükùõako asya balahnasya bhrata ||
duùñmtyasahyasya rutamantrasya sarvataþ |
rjyt pracyavamnasya gatim anym apa yataþ ||
paracakrbhiytasya durbalasya balyas |
asaüvihitarùñrasya de aklv ajnataþ ||
aprpyaü ca bhavet sntvaü bhedo vpy atipóant |
jvitaü crthahetor vtatra kiü suktaü bhavet ||
What way is there, Bharata, for a king who is being abandoned by his allies, who has
many enemies, whose treasury is utterly depleted, whose army is weak, whose ministers and
companions are corrupt and whose counsels have been made known everywhere; who,
seeing no other way, is losing his kingdom; who has been attacked by an enemy’s army which
is strong while he is weak; whose kingdom has not been taken care of; who is ignorant of
the right time and place; for whom his life too due to his circumstances. In this case, what
would be good to do5?
In the reply of this question Bhishma gives the idea of an ideal kingship. The king is the head
of the state; He is the fountain of justice. He has to deal with judicial, taxation, religious and
cultural, problems. He has to protect and regulate the Varna organisation and Asrama system.
Bhishma tells that the King must give up his likes and dislikes. King should act fearlessly and
perform acts based on dharma and behave impartially.

Duties of a King
King Yudhiṣṭhira, during the narrative of the epic Mahābhārata, moves from a position of
being a sometimes ingenuous and enduring dharmarāja to becoming the paramount ruler or
kururāja. Yudhiṣṭhira is the particular model from which we can move towards a more general
picture of ancient kingship as it is represented by the epic. Yudhiṣṭhira always shares his
authority with his brothers—half-brothers really—persistently allowing himself to be guided by
them and by their joint chief, his wife, Draupadī. This is what can be called a ‘fraternal kingship,’
one where even the old king Dhṛtarāṣṭra has a voice in the family rule6. He also depends upon
another element of political influence that is, the prajā ‘the people’.

A person should never do that to others, which he does not like to be done to him by others. (Moksha dharma
parva, Chapter 259)
5
Bowles, Adam., Dharma: Disorder and the Political in Ancient India, {BOSTON: Brill,2007}, 190.
6
MC GRATH, KEVIN, RĀJA YUDHIṢṬHIRA: Kingship in Epic Mahābhārata, { Ithaca and London: Cornell University
Press, 2017}.2.

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 Several chapters, such as 15 and 90, of the parva claim the proper function of a ruler is to
rule according to dharma; he should lead a simple life and he should not use his power to enjoy
the luxuries of life. Chapter 109 of Shanti parva asserts rulers have a dharma (duty,
responsibility) to help the upliftment of all living beings. The best law, claims Shanti parva, is
one that enhances the welfare of all living beings, without injuring any specific group7.

Elements of State
In the saptanga theory of state, Janapada finds an important place in the Mahabharata. All
the authorities more or less admit that Janapada includes the population and territory. In the
Mahabharata different terms are used for the Janapada. Some of them are Rastra, Visaya and
Desa. All these terms are interchangeably used for Janapada. These terms not only refer to
territory but also population. Six kinds of forts mentioned in the Mahabharata. They are
Vanadurga, Mahidurga, Giridurga, Manusyadurga, Abdurga and the Dhanva durga. The forts are
very useful for military purposes as well as safety of the king. The shantiparva informs that a
king even inferior to his enemy in his military strength may harass the foe by taking shelter in a
fort. Danda occupies an important place in the Saptanga theory of state. In ancient political
thought, Danda has been identified with king. Manu is of the view that it is Danda which
governs the kingdom.

Object of Kingship
The parva dedicates over 100 chapters on duties of a king and rules of proper governance. A
prosperous kingdom must be guided by truth and justice. Chapter 58 of Shanti parva suggests
the duty of a ruler and his cabinet is to enable people to be happy, pursue truth and act
sincerely. Chapter 88 recommends the king to tax without injuring the ability or capacity of
citizens to provide wealth to monarchy, just like bees harvest honey from flower, keepers of
cow draw milk without starving the calf or hurting the cow; those who cannot bear the burden
of taxes, should not be taxed.
It is the duty of the king to increase treasury of state because the treasury helps him in
emergency. According to Bhisma, it is one of the Upayas through which he can control his foe.
Hence, all undertakings depend up on finance. It is the king's duty to protect his subjects from
internal and external dangers. The protection of the all the varnas was one of the important
duties of the king. King has to support the weaker sections of society. He must support the
poor, orphans, aged persons, helpless widows, handicaps, blinds, dumbs and lames as well as
the Samnyasins.

Minister and Officials of State

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There is nothing which leads so much to the success of kings as Truth,
The king who is devoted to Truth enjoys happiness both here and hereafter. (Rajadharma anushasana parva,
Chapter 56).

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 The shantiparva alludes to the appointment of the ministers by the king. Amatya (minister
and officials) is the second constituent of state. It has been already asserted that the king
cannot do the multifarious duties without the help of his minister and officials. Different terms
are used for ministers. They are namely Saciva and Mantrin. The terms Mantradharin and
Mantrasahaya are synonymous for mantrin. Sometimes, the word Sahayavan also stands for a
minister. But the use of sahayavan is not numerous as mantrin, Saciva and Amatya. There is
also a reference to the minister of war (Amatya), the courtiers and the parichada in the
Shantiparva.
In the shantiparva, a saciva is king's helper and Amatya is regarded as his private secretary.
An Amatya is an important element of formation of state in ancient India. It is the Amatyas
who formulated the state's policies and advised the king to act accordingly, though; the king
was not always bound to do so. They had to look after their assigned works. The duty of the
ministers is to check on the king's decision.

Punishment Department
Dandniti, is the term used in Mahabharat means the science of coercion. Viewed in the
context as a whole it is the best rendered as the science of governance. On account of the fear
of danda(punishment) the sinners do not indulge in sin, people do not kill others. If danda is not
observed every thing will enveloped by darkness. Chapter 267 suggests the judicial staff to
reflect before sentencing, only sentence punishment that is proportionate to the crime, avoid
harsh and capital punishments, and never punish the innocent relatives of a criminal for the
crime8.

Conclusion
Almost all the political ideas given in Shanti Parva makes us conclude that there prevailed a
golden age of happiness when people led happy and peaceful lives. When this happy life was
disturbed, there arose the necessity to uphold Dharma, protection of property etc. by the King.
To fulfil this requirement as we discussed in above paragraphs defence war, administration
formulation of policies and promotion and fostering of the happiness of the people were the
spheres of activity of the good king. Various political ideas are discussed very well through this
epic. Duties of kings, citizens, ministers and rights of them also are discussed equally in Santi
Parva. At the end we can say that Shantiparva establishes the principles of origin of monarchy-
Rajtantra and it is the Shantiparva of Mahabharata that we come across the political thought of
Bhishma, which forms the subject-matter of this chapter.

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A king by the help of his understanding and guided by knowledge gathered from various sources,
Should so arrange that moral laws may be observed. (Apaddharma anusasana parva, Chapter 142).

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 Bibliography
Books

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 ➢ Bowles, Adam. Dharma: Disorder and the Political in Ancient India, Brill, Boston, 2007.

➢ MC GRATH, KEVIN, RĀJA YUDHIṢṬHIRA: Kingship in Epic Mahābhārata, Cornell University Press,
Ithaca and London, 2017.

Online resources
➢ Basu, Anindita. "Mahabharata." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 25
Aug 2016. Web. 28 Apr 2020.
➢ Doniger, Wendy. Mahabharata, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., Date Published: April 04, 2019,
URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mahabharata, Access Date: April 29, 2020.
➢ Garg, Sushma. "POLITICAL IDEAS OF SHANTI PARVA." The Indian Journal of Political Science 65,
no. 1 (2004): 77-86. Accessed April 29, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/41855798.