Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c4.20

c4.20

Of the social order and of Government as the agency of its enforcement the Hindu thinkers have a clear view, but the very insistence on these two concepts prevented them from formulating the idea of the state as distinct from either. Society was organised pre-eminently as society; Government was a part of that organisation, like the spiritual hierarchy, like the industrial and commercial mechanism. It is all one whole. The same organisation is at once religious, political, economic and military. It is generally viewed in a comprehensive manner. The habit of looking at it primarily from the political angle of vision is not cultivated. As a result, the concept of the state does not emerge very clearly and ‘government’ is used in the sense which the ‘state’ conveys in modern times. Since the government was generally monarchical, the term ‘king’ becomes really synonymous with government and state.