The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c16.s2.t2.8

c16.s2.t2.8

This theory of a world-nationalism (or, what is the same thing, a United Indianism) exercised a powerful influence on the political speculations of the Hindus. It gave rise to set formulae and slogans that fired the imaginations of the Alexanders, Charlemagnes and Fredericks of India through the ages. The *Aitareya Brâhmana*⁵ records some of the ambitions and ideals of the Young India of the sixth century B.C. and beyond. "I want to attain to lordship over all rulers," proclaims one aspirant, "I want to achieve the conquest of both space and time . . . I want to be *sârva-bhauma* . . . and be the *eka-rât* (sole monarch) of the earth up to the skies."