The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c13.s3.t2: 2. Somadeva’s Nītivākyāmrita
The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c13.s3.t2
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2. Somadeva’s Nītivākyāmrita
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Somadeva (c 950) is known to be a Jaina by faith, but in his *Nītivākyāmrita*¹⁹ there is hardly any trace of Jainism outside of the very first chapter. Indeed it is throughout a-religious. The treatise is really a book of *Nīti-śāstra*, pure and undefiled. As such, Somadeva's work is a fine specimen of tenth century Hindu culture in the realm of social philosophy. The true *Nīti* spirit is embodied in the *Nītivākyāmrita*, in which, therefore, may be seen registered the progress and expansion of positivism during the Indian Middle Ages.
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¹⁹ Gopalanarayana Co. Bombay.
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It is indeed questionable if Somadeva is a genuine Jaina when we see that he commences his work with salutation to Gaṇeśa in the orthodox Brāhmaṇical manner. Perhaps like many other Jainas he represents in his life and thought the conquest of electicism in Brāhmaṇic-Jaina religious intercourse.
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What is still more interesting is that in his orientations to group life, the society and the state, Somadeva is fundamentally at one with Brihaspati. There is nothing to choose between the two in the emphasis on *puruṣa-kāra*, *pauruṣa* (manliness), etc.
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The arrow does not shoot out of the bow of itself from the hands of the man who depends on *daiva* (chance or luck), says Somadeva (ch. XXIX). It is to the person who depends on *pauruṣa* that there is the problem of gain or loss (*pauruṣāvalambinorthānarthayoh sandehah*). But to the fellow dependent on *daiva* loss is certain. The relations between *daiva* (luck, chance, fate) and *pauruṣa* (human energy, exertion, manhood) are those between life and medicine. It is with such philosophy of faith in the efficacy of *pauruṣa* as capable of deciding the issue between success and failure or life and death, that Somadeva analyzes the relations between man and man, prince and prince, state and state. In his treatise, then, we are to encounter action, active life, the ability to transform the external conditions, activism.
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The atmosphere of the *Nītivākyāmrita* introduces us to the fundamental milieu of *vikrama* (prowess), *puruṣakāra* (energism), *vijigīṣu* (aspirant to conquest), *sārvabhauma* (world-ruler) and so forth. We are talking the language of Kauṭalya on a large scale. In *Bārhaspatya* *sūtra* the key is Kauṭalyan, materialistic, secular, energistic. But perhaps because it is too short and fragmentary, Kauṭalyaism does not come out in a well-formed manner. But Somadeva is out and out Kauṭalyan.
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Even the chapters are generally Kauṭalyan in phraseology. The thirtyone *samuddeśas* (topics) are indicated below:
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1. *Dharma* (duties), 2. *Artha* (wealth), 3. *Kāma* (enjoyment), 4. Six enemies, 5, Learning and Age, 6. *Ānvīkṣikī* (metaphysics), 7. *Trayī* (Vedas) 8. *Vārttā* (farming, cattle-breeding and commerce), 9. *Daṇḍanīti*, 10. Ministers, 11. The Family Priest, 12. The General, 13. The Representative or Ambassador, 14. The Spies, 15. *Vichāra* or Discrimination, 16. The Vices, 17. The King, 18. The Officers, 19. The Country, 20. The Forts, 21. The Treasure, 22. The Army, 23. The Ally, 24. Guarding the King against dangers, 25. Daily Routine, 26. Good Conduct, 27. Morals and Manners, 28. Judicial affairs, 29. The Six Guṇas (attitudes) *vis-à-vis* other states, 30. War, 31. Marriage.
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The *Nitivākyāmrita* (ch. on the six guṇas) has a very significant message. It furnishes hope to everybody,—to the small man, to the ruler of the petty state. “Even when planted on earth carelessly, the tree becomes firm-rooted, “says he (*avajnayāpi bhūmāvāropitastarurbhavati vaddhamūlah*). “Does not likewise the king? (*Kim punarna bhūpatih?*). That is, a ruler who somehow gets hold of a territory eventually establishes his dominion over it. Indeed, as we are told, “nobody’s territory is derived from his family (*Na hi kulagatā kasyāpi bhūmih*). The Earth is to be enjoyed only by the hero (*vīrabhogyā vasundharā*).” And that is why even the “small man”
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or the ruler of a small territory, provided he be furnished with *upāyas* (diplomatic methods) and prowess as well as lucky in devoted subjects can become *sārvabhaumah* or universal monarch.
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Somadeva is an uncompromising hater of subjection. In case one is too powerless one should seek protection in order to avoid being meat to others (*śakti-hīnah saṁśrayam kuryādyadi na bhavati pareṣāmāmiṣam*).
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He is discussing the position of the "small man" in international politics. What is the most expedient policy for a ruler that happens to be weak? Somadeva is emphatic in his answer, which is as follows:
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"For a person with the sense of self-respect death is preferable to disgrace (*apamānena varam mānino maraṇam*)." Further, "one should not sell oneself by living according to the will of another (*na parechchhānuvartanenātmavikrayah*)."
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And yet Somadeva is not carried away by idealism too far. He can think of the chances, the hopes, the fortunes of the future relations.
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But of course protection is to be sought only in case there be the prospects of an eventual good turning up in the future (*āyatikalyāne sati kasmimśchit samvandhe parasamśrayah śreyān*). That is, the weak is not advised to seek protection of others under all circumstances. He must have to consider the pros and cons carefully and then when he decides upon seeking somebody's tutelage he has only to utilize it with a view to the long run effect. It is the conjuncture of circumstances that he has to study all the time.
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Finally, it should be observed that in social atmosphere *Bārhaspatya-sūtra* and *Nitivākyāmrita* are as the poles asunder. In Somadeva (ch. I.) the message is one of equality. The highest of all social dealings and attitudes consists in sameness or equality to all beings (*sarvasattveṣu hi samatā sarvācharaṇānām param charaṇam*), says he. It is the farthest removed from Brihaspati's prejudices of all sorts. We are here led to the doctrine of equality *vis-à-vis* not only men but all sentient beings. And so far as human beings are concerned, Somadeva is equally precise and positive. Among the ways of acquiring *dharma* he attaches the first importance to *ātmavat paratra kuśalavrittichintamam*, i.e., the cultivation of thoughts regarding other people's welfare as one's own. In his analysis of *dharma* he propagates the doctrines of *tyāga*, i.e., self-sacrifice or gifts and charities as well as of *tapas*, i.e., the control of senses and the mind. Last but not least, the doctrine of *ahimsā* or non-injury to animals finds its proper place in his moral system. Neither in this world nor in the next can any action, we are told, leading to the injury of living beings, be productive of good results. The conduct of persons who do not perform *vratas* (ceremonies) but whose minds are not given to killing can lead to heaven (*ajighāmsumanasām vratariktamapi charitam svargāya jāyate*). In these and similar passages of chapter I, entitled *Dharmasamuddeśe* we encounter the catechism of Jaina religion and morals.
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A very noteworthy feature of *Nitivākyāmrita* remains to be mentioned in this estimate, short as it is. Just after offering salutation to Gaṇeśa Somadeva offers another salutation. This, however, is not to a god or the *guru* but to the *rājya*, the state. The *rājya* is there conceived by him as *dharmārthaphala*, i.e., as an organism of which the fruits are *dharma* and *artha*. The conception of the king as the maker of time is well-known in *Śukranīti* (I. lines 43-44). It is specially to be observed that Somadeva does not use the category *rājā* or the ruler but *rājya*, the entire socio-political complex. In so far as the *rājya* has been adored by the author of the *Nītivākyāmrita* as the source of *dharma* and *artha* he must be credited with having made a contribution of extraordinary value in the history of human thought. It is here that we encounter the doctrine of *étatisme* in a nutshell. It is perhaps the greatest single contribution of the tenth century to Indian social philosophy.
Linked texts (1)
- Nītivākyāmṛta — Somadevasūri, Sanskrit