sin of the subject catches the king

यो ह्यधर्मकार्यं वा विषये पार्थिवस्य तु।
करोति चाश्रीमूलं तत्पुरे वा दुर्मतिर्नरः॥
क्षिप्रं च नरकं याति स च राजा न संशयः।
yo hyadharmakāryaṁ vā viṣaye pārthivasya tu|
karoti cāśrīmūlaṁ tatpure vā durmatirnaraḥ||
kṣipraṁ ca narakaṁ yāti sa ca rājā na saṁśayaḥ|

श्रीमद्वाल्मीकिरामायणं  उत्तरकाण्डं ७४---२९
śrīmadvālmīkirāmāyaṇaṁ  uttarakāṇḍaṁ 74---29

A wicked man committing an unlawful and condemnable act, of course invites for himself  incarceration in the worst hell. He does not stop with this. He attaches the sin committed by him on the ruler of the kingdom and duly drags the innocent monarch also to the hell to enjoy the privileges of the original sinner.

Even though democracy was not a widely accepted political theory in India of yore,  accountability of the ruler towards his subject was a well established idea.  It was the duty of the king to prevent any sin being committed by anyone in his kingdom.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I