The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c14.s9.t7.35

c14.s9.t7.35

But let us accept the tradition as such. We understand, then, that Rāmdās wants, first, a "union among the Marathas." And secondly, as Ranade interprets it in one context (p. 53), Rāmdās is looking for an expansion of the *dharma* or duty of *mahārāṣṭra* (a large or unified state). Thus considered, the category *mahārāṣṭra* did not imply any particular geographical region, namely, Mahārāṣṭra, the country of the Marathas, but a great or powerful nation. The unification of the Marathas was the first item in Rāmdās's policy. This corresponds to the *Einheit* or unity for which Fichte made propaganda in Germany.¹¹ The second item was the establishment of a large state. In other words, the territorial expansion of a Hindu state under the auspices of the united Marathas may be taken to have been the goal of action recommended by Rāmdās in the popular adage ascribed to him by tradition.