Origin and Types of the State – Ancient India
Chapter – 2
- Modern political works explore the origin of the State extensively, though no historical evidence on the very first political organization exists.
- Speculations on state origin rely on scientific methods, evolution theory, and comparisons to uncivilized societies, an approach unknown to ancient thinkers.
- Ancient Indian views, found in Mahabharata and Dighanikaya, attribute the State’s origin to divine intervention or public agreement.
- Both texts describe a Golden Age without government, where people lived in harmony due to their innate virtue.
- Moral decline eventually led to chaos and lawlessness (matsyanyaya – “law of the jungle”), prompting divine intervention to restore order.
- In the Mahabharata, Brahmadeva created a king, Virajas, who governed under a divine code, and people accepted his rule to end anarchy.
- Similar views appear in the Dighanikaya; however, Mahajanasammata emerged as king by public choice without divine creation, accepted in exchange for a tax.
- Hindu and Buddhist beliefs about a Golden Age preceding government imply that society predates government, supporting the idea that language evolves before grammar.
- Texts by Narada and Brihaspati reference the Golden Age and subsequent anarchy, but do not add to theories on State origin.
- Hindu thinkers saw the State as essential for societal order and progression, viewing it as a divine institution inherent to human nature.
- There’s an implicit social contract notion in ancient texts: the people agreed to governance for protection, granting the king a tax (16%) as compensation.