The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c14.s9.t8.27

c14.s9.t8.27

While dealing with the Marathi *Rājanīti* (1716) of Rāmachandrapant let us observe once more,—what we are always aware of in the discussion of Hindu political theories,—that his ideal of a king is the *rājarṣi* of the Kauṭalyan tradition. This *rājarṣi* (royal-sage), again, is none other than the philosopher-king of Plato. To cite a somewhat contemporary parallel from Europe we should to a certain extent envisage the milieu of the *Idea of a Patriot King* (1738) by Bolingbroke (1678-1751), in which the Hanoverian contemporaries of the Marathas used to live. For general orientations in regard to political ideas it is necessary likewise to remember some of the absolutist treatises like Bodin's *Les six Livres de la République* (1576) and Hobbes's *Leviathan* (1651) as well as the treatises of Bossuet and Filmer already referred to (supra).