The Mauryan Polity c11.s1.t1: Religion and politics

c11.s1.t1.1

Before we actually enter into the subject of the religion of the Mauryas, personal religion as well as state religion, it would be better if we would try to understand and realise the exact position of the Mauryan state in relation to dharma. A state and its institutions are, if judged by modern notions of polity, secular. They aim at human welfare, moral and material. But the concept of dharma connotes a religious significance that permeates the whole. Did religion, then, function in politics? Did religion largely guide and control the state policy and administration? These are indeed questions which require a satisfactory answer. It must be taken as a matter of fact that religion, to the extent it meant dharma, law and morality, exercised a moderate and healthy influence on ancient Indian polity and politics. It had a smoothening effect on the machinery of administration. Dharma, doctrinal or ethical, was considered to be the eternal law as against the man-made law of our legislature.