Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c4.13

c4.13

The practical character of Indian political thought. Not only does it, as a rule, assume certain fundamental principles of morality but it always seeks to direct life. It does explain what is, but its primary concern is to point out what ought to be. The attitude was responsible for the wide range which political theory covered. In India the state was never confined to "the hindrance of hindrances"; its function was not merely negative or preventive. It must consciously and actively stimulate virtue and guide the moral life. It must regulate the social order and keep all to their duties. No governmental action can extend to the inner thoughts and motives of man but the Hindu theory wants the state to ally itself with the forces and influences which touch the springs of action. Under this conception the state bulks large in the communal life and the theory of the state proceeds to resolve itself into a theory of law and morals. In short, political science becomes the ethics of a whole society, a science of the whole duty of man in all his relations and environment. On the other hand, the practical bent of political thought sometimes deprives it of its philosophic character altogether. Knowledge must issue in action. Theory is married to art. The theorist assumes the tone and accent of a lawgiver. He frequently addresses himself to those engaged in political work. When he seeks to be exhaustive, he enunciates a series of detailed departmental codes. He becomes dictatorial and, in his hands, political science often ceases to be a science and becomes an art—the art of government. Hindu literature does present a theory of society and a theory of state but it forms only the groundwork of a theory of government. When the mass of writings on public organisation is considered as a whole, the central theme is discovered to be government.