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A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c3: Preface

A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c3

Language
English

Preface

c3.1

The present work is an attempt to trace the political thought of the Hindu people through the long and varied history of its origin, development, and decline.

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The historical presentation of the Hindu theories of the State and Government is at this moment one of the great *desiderata* in the field of Indology. It is a welcome sign of the times that since the preparation of this volume was first undertaken, there has been a plentiful crop of books and papers bearing more or less directly upon selected areas of its subject-matter. So long however as there is a tendency, as at present, to depend mainly, if not exclusively, upon the analytical method, there is the risk of interpreting the concepts and categories of the Hindu thinkers in disregard of the limiting conditions of time and place. In the present work while analysis and comparison have, it is believed, received their due measure of attention, the object has been principally to unfold the record of the Hindu political mind in the order of its historical evolution as far as practicable. It has thus been possible to present the ideas concerned in their true historical perspective, and further and above all, to explain the process of their growth and development. It has thus become evident that Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra and the Śāntiparvan section of the Mahābhārata, to quote one example, are not solely or even principally a repository of the older political ideas, but probably register distinct advances of thought. Further, it has been shown that the remarkable theories of the king’s origin in the Mahābhārata and the Manusamhitā exhibit a complex blending of ideas presumably produced by a reaction against the anti-monarchical tendencies of the Buddhist theory of contract.

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Next to the urgency of treating Hindu political thought on historical principles may be mentioned the necessity of precise analysis of its leading tenets. Principally because of the paucity and obscurity of the literary material, there has been in this case the danger of reading modern ideas into the old texts, or at least stretching their meaning to a degree unwarranted by the evidence. It has been the author’s aim to avoid these pitfalls, and confine himself as far as possible to an objective interpretation of his subject. This has involved the discussion of the exact signification of such technical terms as *prakriti* and *danda*, and has led to the consideration of such current views as those crediting the Hindus with the notion of popular sovereignty and the like.

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While at the present time the provinces of political theory and of the institutions of the State are recognised to be distinct from each other in so far as their historical treatment is concerned, it is no doubt desirable for the sake of completeness that the historian of political theory in India should keep himself as closely in touch with the corresponding facts of political life as his compeer in the West. In the present instance, however, the method of treatment indicated above is precluded by the obscurity in which the actual history of Indian institutions is still involved. Hence all that can be attempted is to bring out, as the author has sought to do, the general bearing of the institutions upon the growth of ideas.

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A history of Hindu political thought, it may seem, should involve some digression into the general systems of Hindu philosophy, for some of the root-ideas of the former, such, e.g., as the doctrine of creation of the social order, are embedded in the ideas and principles of the latter. It is, however, a remarkable fact that the study of statecraft and cognate topics branched off at an early period in the history of the race from the general stream of Vedic culture and formed an independent branch of knowledge which might be called a secular science, were it not for the pronounced disinclination of the Hindu mind to conceive the secular life as the antithesis of the religious. In regard to the theories of the Brāhmaṇical canon, it may be observed that questions relating to the origin and nature of the king’s office and the like have been treated in so far as they are so treated, on the basis of broad theological principles, e.g., the creation of kingship by the will of the Supreme Being. In these circumstances it has been held that a general treatment of such religio-ethical or socio-religious concepts as Dharma and the institution of the castes and orders is sufficient for the purposes of this work.

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Apart from the intrinsic merit of the ideas dealt with in this volume and their value in illustrating the genius of Hindu culture, the principal interest of a work such as the present lies, it would seem, in its furnishing the data, from an Eastern point of view, of a true science of Comparative Politics, a science taking cognisance of distinct types of institutions and theories conceived to be rooted in different conditions of existence and forms of race-consciousness, and involving the fullest recognition of the multilinear evolution of human social organisations. To fulfil this important end, it would seem necessary to appraise the concepts and categories of the Hindus especially in the terms of Western political theory. A task of this magnitude can not be attempted in the present volume, but a few important hints, it is believed, have been thrown in at the end to help the solution of the problem.

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A considerable portion of this work formed the subject of a thesis that was approved by the University of Calcutta for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1922. The extracts from the Sanskrit and Pali works which, it will be noticed on examination, are many and copious, have been put in partly for their illustrative value, and partly to ensure a correct interpretation of their meaning. Except in the case of the standard versions in the *Sacred Books of the East*, the *Sacred Books of the Buddhists*, and the *Harvard Oriental Series*, the translations are made directly from the original.

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The author offers his tribute of grateful regard to Dr. Brajendra Nath Seal M.A. PH.D. D.SC., Vice-Chancellor, Mysore University, for his stimulating discourses which have suggested some portions of this work. To his friend and colleague Pandit Siva Prasad Bhattacharya M.A., he is greatly indebted for ungrudging help in the preparation of translations from the Sanskrit, while another esteemed colleague Prof. K. Zachariah B.A. (Oxon.) has earned his thanks by the translation of an extract from the Italian work of G. B. Bottazzi on Kauṭilya and Thucydides. To another friend Prof. Rabindra Narayan Ghosh M.A., Vice-Principal, Ripon College, Calcutta, the author makes a special acknowledgment for a number of valuable suggestions and criticisms. Nor must he fail to record in this place his profound appreciation of the keen interest shown in his production by Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, Vice-Chancellor, Calcutta University. Finally, it is the author's wish that his work should be associated with the kind solicitude of his respected teacher Prof. Adhar Chandra Mukherjee M.A.B.L., and his friends Kumar Sarat Kumar Ray M.A., Mr. Akshay Kumar Maitra C.I.E., Mr. Rama Prasad Chanda B.A., and Professors Radha Kumud and Radha Kamal Mookerji.

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