The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c16.s1.t4.18

c16.s1.t4.18

*Varnâśrama*, though obviously a socio-pedagogic and ethnico-economic term, is thus fundamentally a political concept. It is an indispensable category in an organic theory of the state. It is identical with *râstra* from the demographic (*prajâ* or population) aspect. The doctrine of *varnâśrama* is therefore the doctrine of *râṣtra* minus the doctrine of property; and further, the doctrine of *dharma* (as law and duty) applied to the total *prakriti* (or members of the state) coincides with the doctrine of classes and stages. The doctrine of *varnâśrama* then is clearly an integral part in a consistent philosophy of politics.