The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c10.s8.3

c10.s8.3

From the schedule of topics on which, according to the *Paṭṭhapāda Sutta*¹⁶, the *Paribbājakas* or *Wanderlehrer* and "sophists", so to say, used to hold discourses, one is introduced to the intellectual *milieu* that held political science in solution. The celebrated "seven conditions of welfare" for a community as well as the duties of householders etc., are proclaimed and discussed in the *Mahāparinibbāna Suttānta*. The majesty of the "greatest king", his glorious capital and his palace are described in the *Mahāsudassana Suttānta*, which can bear comparison for certain purposes with any of the Utopias of world thought in the domain of spirituality, "righteousness," etc. The "seven treasures" conceived in this milieu of Śākyan righteousness have been traced by Sénart in *La Legende du Bouddha* to the Vedic hymns. The "ideal Brāhmaṇa", the "assembly hall" of the gods, etc., are among the topics discussed in the *Mahāgovinda Suttānta*, in which, besides, the geography of India is described according to the ideas of the time. The "ideal world-monarch" is the subject of the *Chakkavatti Sīhanāda Suttānta*, which, further deals with the problems of life, prosperity and longevity. Universal education is dealt with in the *Lohichcha Sutta*, and birth, old age and death in the *Mahānidāna Suttānta*. Within the general frame-work of righteousness the *Agganna Suttānta* may be described as a general treatise of sociology, dealing as it does with the evolution of the world, man and society as well as the problems of the four castes. The thirty-two marks of the "Superman" are discussed in the *Lakkhana Suttānta*. The entire gamut of *Beziehungen* of man in society is the subject matter of the *Singalovada Suttānta*, which may be described as a comprehensive treatise on *gihivinaya* (householder's duties) or domestic and social ethics.