The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c16.s1.t4.2

c16.s1.t4.2

Out of *mâtsya-nyâya* evolves *dharma* through the fiat of *danda*. Now *dharma* has need to be embodied, i. e. the *Kultur-Staat* must have to materialize itself in space and time. This is accomplished in the *râstra*, which provides *aisvarya* (sovereignty) with "a local habitation and a name". It is in and for the *râstra* that the state institutes *mamatva* and *dharma*. Property, law, justice and duty are concretely realized through this medium. The doctrine of *râstra* thus furnishes the crowning arch in the Hindu theory of the state.