The King should always bear himself towards his subjects as a mother towards the child of her womb. Hear, O monarch, the reason why this becomes desirable. As the mother, disregarding those objects that are most cherished by her, seeks the good of her child alone, even so, without doubt, should kings conduct themselves. The king that is righteous should always behave in such a manner as to avoid what is dear to him, for the sake of doing that which would benefit his people.
Bhishma to Yudhishthira, from the Mahabharata.

When did he have time to do nautchgana (dance parties), tell me?

This complaint, from the daughter of the late Maharao of Kutch was a familiar one. 'So many of the rulers were very, very simple,' argues the widow of the last ruler of Porbandar. 'Many were strict vegetarians who never drank or smoked and lived very simple and very disciplined lives-but those were the rulers one never heard about.'

The son of the last Raol of Mansa State insists that ‘in a small state like ours there was no question of indulging in ostentatious luxury. We lived in a certain luxury of a type, but there was no question of sitting back and enjoying the goodies. My father, grandfather and great- grandfather were almost puritanical, in fact. None kept concubines or were addicted to opium or liquor – and had there been the slightest rumour of misbehaviour it would have been really looked down upon by everyone in the state’.