The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c11.t22.13

c11.t22.13

It is not necessary to compare the functions of Hindu states, item by item, as regards quantity and variety, with the long list of modern state activities, expanding daily as they have been under the impact of socialism. The socialistic trend of *dharma*-states is apparent enough. One must not surmise, however, that every public work among Hindus was the undertaking of the state. For, private effort i. e. the patriotism of citizens was responsible in every age for the founding and maintenance of useful institutions. In Gupta India hospitals² were built and endowed by the public-spirited townsfolk of Pâtali-putra, the Rome of the Hindus. Rudra-dâmana (*c* A. C. 150), a satrap of Gujarat, repaired the Sudarśana reservoir at his own expense, the ministers having refused to supply funds from the government treasury.³ General Uṣavadâta's (*c* A. C. 100) endowments in the Andhra Deccan may serve as a standing example of the manner in which the people cooperated with the state and supplemented its activity along developmental or cultural lines.