A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c6.18

c6.18

The peculiar genius of the Indo-Aryans left its impress upon another aspect of Hindu political thought, namely its intensely realistic character. The political ideas of the Hindus were of the earth, earthy, and it was only on rare occasions that they were tempted to soar into the region of ideal polities. A remarkable instance of this exception to the general rule is the picture of the Universal Monarch (Chakravartin) in the Buddhist canon. The Hindu political thinkers indeed were not as a rule closet philosophers to whom it is permitted to indulge in dreams of blissful Utopias. They figured either in the role of teachers of the Sacred Law which was binding upon the king in every act of his life, and was enforced by the highest moral and spiritual sanctions. Or else, as makers of the Arthaśāstra, they claimed to lay down rules of policy that were founded upon the accumulated wisdom of past masters, and which princes and ministers were enjoined to lay to heart and practise in their lives. Thus the Hindu theories of the State were mainly concerned with concrete problems of administration such as the conduct of the king, the choice of ministers, as well as internal and foreign policy. Even the abstract speculations relating to the origin of kingship and the like seem to have been the battle-cries in the strife of rival schools of thought concerning such vital issues as the relative rights of the king and the subjects.