The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c16.s1.t4.3

c16.s1.t4.3

What is this *râstra*? It signifies "the country". Both "movable and immovable things" are indicated by the term.¹ It is a territorial concept comprehending an aggregate of human beings and material possessions and thus constitutes the "physical basis" of the state. It may be taken almost as equivalent to *res publica*. The doctrine of *râstra* would therefore naturally consist of two parts: (1) the doctrine of property and (2) the doctrine of *prajâ*, *prakriti* or population. The doctrine of property has already been investigated. Let us now examine the doctrine of population in its bearing on the theory of the state.