Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c14.4

c14.4

The Sphere of Corporations. It is clear that in Hindu social philosophy, government has an importance not merely political in the strict sense of the term but also social and spiritual. All government, however, must conform to Law—law of which it is not the maker. Theory insists that it must conform to divine injunctions and, in doubtful cases, make sure of their exact significance with the help of pious scholars. It must, in the second place, respect popular usage except, of course, where it directly contravenes divine commands. There were large spheres of life which divine legislation had left untouched or which it had barely touched. Here the state might issue its decrees usually, of course, in accordance with the prevailing practice, or it might simply undertake the duty of normally enforcing the usage which communities had evolved. The affairs in which people were normally independent of state-control were not only religious but also social and economic. Their regulation was undertaken by corporations, generally spontaneous in origin and differing widely in rigidity of organisation. Or it happened that a corporation claimed to have received its law from the same source as the state itself. The Buddhist Saṃgha for instance, based itself on the solid rock of Buddha's word. In any case, the nature, functions and privileges of these corporations, their internal organisation and procedure and their relations with the government demanded the attention of political and legal writers.