The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c5.24

c5.24

Caste, which formed the basis of the social order, was, along with geography, race and economic postulates, a great factor in the political life of the Hindus. Apart from the fact that it ruled out democracy or aristocracy as a form of government for a state as a whole, it deeply influenced the nature, character and working of the monarchical state. Caste resolves function into a purpose, an ethical principle, a religious conception. In the exaltation of the group, it largely sacrifices the individual values. It strikes at the root of individuality and amounts almost to a denial of personality. It refuses to admit that every individual is, in his nature, universal and that he has the right to seek his own self-expression, to determine his own ambitions and pursue his own interests. The principle of caste is the negation of the dignity of man as man. It rules out all idea of individual liberty or rights independently of those which arise from the necessity and desirability of performing prescribed social functions. Hence, there was no effort in the history of Hindu politics to define the spheres of individuality on the one hand, and the group or state on the other hand. "Laissez-faire" had no basis in ancient India. When it liked, society could direct everything pertaining to human life.