Hindu Administrative Institutions c6.s4.23

c6.s4.23

absolutely necessary for the life of organisms. The body-politic may thus be regarded as composed of individuals in various stages of evolution doing their respective duties and yet enjoying freedom. Thus we may realize the Sudra class as the pedestal of the body politic, but for which the head (Brahmans), the hands (the Kṣatriyas), the thighs (the Vaiśyas), would not only be ineffective for the functioning of society as a whole, but would also be incapable of performing their own functions to the best advantage. Dispute, discontent and despair would be the consequence. But if every member of this organism is powerful enough to function in its respective sphere, all of them would be interdependent and society would go on. ‘Therefore nothing is too high, nothing too low, for all are equally suffused saturated and transfigured by the one life which alone makes for righteousness.’ Hence the institution of the four varṇas has been based upon the latter’s guṇa or essential nature and quality, and their respective karma or social function. In the order of the āśramas lies the condition needed for the enabling of the individual to perform efficiently his duties to self, to the family, to the community and to God, and thus to achieve the happy solution of this universal social problem which even modern democracy is unable to tackle successfully. Thus the conception of society as an organism, a new product of western science, is the basic truth taught in the sacred books of the ancient Hindus.