warders [i.e., Judges] adhere to their
respective duties, and leadeth to an acquisition by the ruler himself of
virtue." (_Udhyog Parva,_ p. 383). But although the subjects have the
right to expect justice they cannot expect kindness or even easy
condescension. "The heart of a King is as hard as thunder" _(Canti
Parva,_ p. 57). "Knowledge makes a man proud, but the King makes him
humble" _(Canti Parva,_ p. 223). "When the King rules with a complete
and strict reliance on the science of chastisements, the foremost of
ages called the Kirta is said to set in" (ibid., p. 228). "The King
must be skilful in smiting" (ibid., p. 174). "Fierceness and ambition
are the qualities of the King" (ibid., p. 59). "The King who is mild
is regarded as the worst of his kind, like an elephant that is reft of
fierceness" (ibid., p. 171). Indeed, failure to treat subjects with
rigour is visited with penalties as tremendous as failure to protect
them. "They forget their own position and most truly transcend it. They
disclose the secret counsels of their master; without the least anxiety
they set at nought the King's commands. They wish to sport with the King
as with a bird on a string" (ibid., p. 172). And in the end they
destroy him. "The King should always be heedful of his subjects as also
of his foes. If he becomes heedless they fall on him like vultures upon
carrion" (_Canti Parva,_ p. 289).

Here we have commended as a pattern of administration a despotism such
as the West has never experienced. It is inquisitorial,
severe--sometimes, perhaps, wantonly cruel. But from the fearful
pitfalls that encompass weakness it is certain to be sleeplessly
vigilant and in the highest degree virile, forceful, and efficient. Now
it will be asked what bearing the doctrines of a work four thousand
years old have on the problems of the present day. But it must be
remembered, as that eminent scholar, the late Mr. Jackson, the victim of
the abominable Nasik outrage, pointed out, that Hindu civilization and
Hindu thought are at bottom the same now as in the days of Yudhisthira.

The _Mahabharata_ is the constant companion from youth to age of every
educated Indian. Its tales have provided matter for the poetry, the
drama, and the folk-songs of all ages and of all languages. No Hindu
will live in a house facing south, as it is there that lives Yama, the
god of death. No Hindu will go to sleep without murmuring _Takshaka_ as
a preventive against snake-bite.