Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c4.18

c4.18

purpose is the basis of a function; every association or institution has an object. But Hindu theory erected function into an ethical principle. The individual is not to seek his own interest or expression, not to determine his own ambitions or ends. Caste does not admit that every individual is in his nature universal and that he has the right to select his own function. He must primarily fulfil the function assigned to him from the moment of his birth in the social whole of which he forms a part. In the exaltation of society, the human values are practically lost and much that is personal gives way to the collective elements. The theory, in fact, strikes at the root of individuality and amounts almost to a denial of personality.