The composition of the Mahabharata ranged from 400 BC to AD 400. Some scholar believe that the oral epic was put together as a text in about 150BC and that this may have taken a century or so. It is widely accepted that the authorship of Mahabharata is attributed to Vyasa an ancient sage. According to Vyasa the epic is intended to be a treatise on life itself, including religion and ethics, polity and governance, philosophy and the pursuit of salvation. The Mahabharata as an epic is a political treatise which can be classified as a work on polity. Mahabharata constitutes the foundation on which stands the magnificent structure of ancient Indian religion and thought, culture, literature, economics and politics. The Mahabharata can be viewed as a civilizational text not because it reflects the propagation of a particular view of dharma but because among other things it speaks on the debate that has continued over many centuries and is being debated even today.

This prominent Sanskrit epic of ancient India comprises crucial insights about humanity. Mahabharata contains a detailed discussion of the four goals of human existence, namely, dharma(right action), artha(purpose), kama(pleasure), and moksha (liberation). Of all the eighteen parvas of the Mahabharata Shantiparva is the most enourmous one. It further has three subparvas namely Rajdharm Anushasana Parva, Apaddharma Parva and Moksha dharmaparva. On the whole it consists of 365 chapters and 13,716 number of slokas. Shantiparva or the book of consolation, is a compendium of advice political, ethical and philosophical. This paper focuses on Rajdharma Anusasan Parva which is a sub parva of Mahabharata’s Shantiparva.

The Shantiparva has an extensive section devoted to the Rajdharma for the duties of the king and the government. It discusses in detail about the importance of the sci- ence of politics and advocates its own theories about the origin of the state and kinship. The duties and responsibilities of the king are explained at the length in several chapters. Internal administration is described only in one chapter. Problem connected with the foreign policy and peace and war occupy a good deal of space.

The parva narrates the crowning of Yudhishthira as the new king of Hastinapur after the Pandavas defeated the Kauravas in the war of Kurukshetra. It gives an account of the narratives given by Bhishma to the newly anointed King, Yudhishthira. In Shantiparva while answering to some of the questions of Yudhishthira, Bhishma does not give his own opinion but suggest it by referring to the dialogues between kings and sages of hoary antiquity who had discussed similar problems. Bhishma who was laying in bed of arrows shares his life’s experiences and teaching from great saints on the issues of economics politics, and social relations among human beings. Bhishma outlines the nine duties that are meant to be followed:

• suppression of wrath
• truthfulness of speech
• justice
• forgiveness
• begetting children upon one & own wedded wives
• purity of conduct
• avoidance of quarrel
• simplicity
• and maintenance of dependants

Bhishma also spells out the various duties associated with the four Hindu varnas (social classes): Brahmanas (spiritual leaders and educationists), Kshatriyas (the ruling elite and warriors), Vaisyas (traders, merchants or capitalists), and Sudras (craftsmen and labourers). Bhishma advises Yudhishthira that as a sovereign it is his responsibility to ensure that the four social categories must follow the rules and the regulations specified by the Hindu social order. Deliberate or unintentionally nonconformity to these dictates of righteousness should be viewed as an improper, violent, and immoral act.

Origin of State in Shantiparva

The Shantiparva gives an account of a society that flourished without a king or law court for a long time, later on there was a moral degeneration. When people become greedy, selfish and unrighteous, they deviated from moral rectitude, the earthly paradise which they had been enjoying was soon converted into veritable hell. The law of jungle began to prevail, the strong devoured the weak (matsyanyaya)., When men went out to pray for relief to God Brahma. God Brahma came to the conclusion that human society can survive only if a code law was framed and enforced through the instrumentality of a king. He composed a comprehensive code and also created an asexual son named Viajas, who was appointed as king and all men agreed to obey his orders.

In Shantiparva at some other part there is a slightly divergent account of the origin of state. People were tired of the law of the jungle which prevailed for a long time and entered into a mutual contract that people guilty of unsocial acts like misappropriation and adultery would be expelled from society. In order to inspire mutual confidence, they entered into universal social contract to guarantee the agreement. People still continued to be unhappy probably because there was no king or government to enforce the contract. Then all of them approached the creator with a request to appoint a king, who on the one hand should be able to protect the people and on the other hand should be obeyed by the people. The creator thus appoints Manu as the king. 

According to both the theories God helped the humanity to escape from the law of jungle by giving it a king. Thus, the account as described in the Shantiparva shows that state was regarded as divine institution, king’s right to govern was partly due to his divine creation and partly to the agreement of the subjects to be governed by him in order to terminate anarchy.

Duties of king / Rajadharma

As it would make life difficult in absence of king so in the Mahabharata, the people were strongly advised to elect and crown a king. Kingdom without a king would be like that of a herd of cattle without a herdsman. It is the duty of king to protect his subjects. If the king did not exercise the duty of protection, then there would be law- lessness and strong would forcibly appropriate the possessions of the weak. All kinds of property, and even wives, sons, and daughters would cease to exist, robbers would rob off people; all restrictions about marriage would cease; agriculture and trade would fall into confusion; morality would be lost; the Vedas would disappear, sacrifices would no longer be performed; society itself would cease to exist; famine would ravage the country; and all kinds of injustice would set in.

The Mahabharata said, “No one should disregard the King by taking him for a man, for he was really a high divinity in human form. The King assumed five different forms according to five different occasions. He became Agni, Aditya, Mrityu, Vaisravana, and Yama. Thus king was regarded as divine and supreme. Dharma was considered as supreme and the organ of state responsible for enforcing Dharma was the king. Thus in the political theory of ancient India the supremacy of Dharma was so established that the king who was the embodiment of Danda was destroyed if he acted contrary to the Rajadharma. This is explicitly stated in the Shantiparva of Mahabharata when Prithu, the king of men, took an oath to subordinate his inclinations to morality and to observe the eternal laws of Dharma. It was regarded as the sacred duty of the king to enforce varnashrama. There was a need for judicious management of Dharma and Danda to keep the society in order and this was done by the king. The mismanagement of both could easily destabilise the governance of the state. The management of dharma and danda was so important that Mahabharata goes a step further by permitting the subjects to dethrone the king who had become tyrannical, oppressive and should enthrone a relative if he is found suitable. The subjects have the right to tyrannicide if they had no remedy open to them. It was in return for the services the king rendered to the people that he received their obedience and their contributions for the maintenance of royalty. It was the duty of the King to promote the welfare of his subjects. The duties of the King, were:

1. to please the people;
2. to protect them;
3. to seek their welfare;
4. to establish all his subjects in the observance of their respective duties;
5. to punish wrongdoers; and
6. to practice the virtues of promptitude, energy, truthfulness.

The Mahabharata emphasizes the indispensability of a king. A king should always give attention and practice Dharma.. Otherwise he may be cursed by others. The main duty of King was to uphold Dharma and Prajahit (welfare of subject).

In Shantiparva while discussing the significance of king’s authority, Bhishma tells that the King must give up his likes and dislikes. King should act fearlessly and per- form acts based on dharma and behave impartially. king should follow dandniti which is of a great importance. Dandniti, is the term used in Mahabharat means the science of coercion. By using dandaniti King can run smoothly all human affairs on the path of dharma. Dandniti can also be referred as the science of governance. As the reins check the steed or as an iron hook controls anelephant, so dandniti keeps the world under restraints. It destroys everyevil as the sun destroys the darkness. About the importance of dandniti, Bhishma says, that if dandniti is destroyed, the three Vedas will disappear and the duties of four vernas will mixup. On the destruction of dandniti and instability of Rajadharma, all people will suffer from many evils. It is the prime duty of the king to be fully versed in dandniti. Danda protects the people and it awakes those who sleep; hence Dand is called Dharma. 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. Bhishma explains the fundamental importance of the kings office for justice and dandaniti. According to him people can live happily only if they live under the law. The Shantiparva accepts the importance of coercion, including judicial punishment. The Shantiparva contains a list of 5 spheres of activity orientations for a very good King – (1) defence (2) War (3)administration according to the Dharma (4) formulation of policies (5) the promotion and fostering of the happiness of the people. According to shantiparva, King should be charitable, modest and pure and should never renounce the performance of his duties towards his subjects. The protection of the people from external environmental dangers and internal foes is the foremost duty of the king in the political system. In the time of emergency, the ordinary rules must be suspended. If the people are in distress, the king must come to their aid with his money. If government is faced with a crisis, as on the outbreak of war, it is justified adopting financial measures. Adversity has a morality of its own. In emergency time, king should take his subjects into his confi- dence. He should explain the whole situation to them and then impose extra tax. For the sake of saving life, it is right to make a treaty with an enemy. Those who make treaty with the enemies and oppose allies for the sake of treasure, they get good re- ward. The treasure and the army are the sole root of the government or king, so the root of all things- the treasury should be increased. In Shantiparva King was advised to keep the loyal, intelligent, dutiful and skilled ministers.

Shanti Parva is one long argument for the vested interest of the community in the welfare of the king and government. In Santi Parva of Mahabharat we see the Indian soul and culture. Various political ideas are discussed very well through the epic. Du- ties of kings, citizens, ministers and rights of them also are discussed equally in Santi Parva. Origin of state, foreign policy inter state relations are discussed well in Santi parva. We can say that Santi Parva in Mahabharata is considered unperishable treasury, history, religion, diplomacy, polity, philosophy & thought not only for us but for the whole humanity and world.