The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c16.s2.t2.10

c16.s2.t2.10

Hindu political thought produced several other categories to express the same idea of the world-state or universal sovereignty. We have, first, the doctrine of *chakravarti*. It indicates that the *chakra* or wheel of the state-chariot rolls everywhere without obstruction. The wheel is the symbol of sovereignty. Or, if *chakra*¹ be taken as denoting a country from sea to sea, the *chakravarti* would be the ruler of a state from sea to sea (i. e., extending to the farthest limits). It is this conception of a political "dominion," of a secular overlordship, that is employed metaphorically with a spiritual significance in the conception of the Lord Buddha as *Chakkavatti*. "A king am I, Sela," says Buddha² using the language of his contemporary imperialists, "the king supreme of righteousness. The royal chariot-wheel in righteousness do I set rolling on—that wheel that no one can turn back again."