BUDDHIST NOTION OF

KINGSHIP
Introduction to Buddhist Political theories

• Digha Nikaya is a collection of dialogues of mostly of Gautama himself.

There are 180 controversial dialogues –

• First dialogue is Brahmajala – the perfect net
• 62 hypothesis and 4 great nikayas or collections. First 2 nikayas are
Digha and Majjhima, longer and shorter.
• Buddha is himself principle interlocutor in conversation with his
principle disciples.
• Agganna Sutta is number 27 of Digha Nikaya.
Philosophical concepts of Buddhism
• There are 3 great traditions of Buddhist thought –
1. Theravada - oldest early Buddhism – Sri lanka, Burma, Thailand &
Cambodia (meditation)
2. Mahayana – Eastern originates in India and spreads to China,
Vietnam, Korea and Japan (Lotus sutra)
3. Vajrayana – Believes in esoteric healing and social transformation,
found in Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal and Bhutan
• 3 fundamental principles of phenomenal world
1. Anicca – impermanence
2. Anatta – NO self
3. Dukkha - Suffering
Origin of Kingship
Ernest Gellner mentioned three historical stages of evolution of mankind:
i. Hunter-gatherers
ii. Agrarian Society
iii. Industrial Society
Indian society during 5th– 4th Centuries B.C.:
-Brahmanism was more strongly established the countryside than in the rising
urban centres, where a competing plurality of ideologies were emerging;
-These urban centres, which arose from and encouraged a food surplus, were
the market, military and administrative centres of small scale politics and not
the metropolitan capitals of large empires;
-These policies were ruled by oligarchies and gradually turned to monarchies.
Origin of State as a quasi-contractual Arrangement under which the king
agrees to perform specific functions on behalf of the people in return for certain
rights conferred on him, including taxation;
-The view of kingship is not that of a ‘ universal emperor’, the cakkavatti but
is of the ‘ Great Appointee’
-Basis of kingship involve psychological factors rather than divine will.
-Shows new realm of social investigation, reflecting that when social
stratifications were absent, the state of existence was of great happiness
-Once ignorance dispelled, individual was able to see things as they really are
-Dialogue do not specify details of Maha Sammata / Great Elect would be king
or a republican head.
-Buddha himself was from Sakiya clan with republican polity
-Ecclesiastical organization founded by Buddha was based on model of
republican polity, where members were encouraged to express their views
freely.
- Decision making involved some consensus.
- Difference between King and subjects depicts divergence of physical beauty,
attractiveness, capability, etc.
- Emergence of private property as a cause of emergence of station of food
surplus were connected processes . There were many factors behind the
increase in food production: earlier dominant barley was substituted with
higher-yield crop of rice; the technique of transplanting rice in wetland
cultivation;
-The rise of urban centres and the product
- Passions of vanity (empty pride), conceit, lust, greed, theft, desire necessitate
coercive authority of state
-‘ Great Elect’ was instituted by people to settle social conflicts
-Political authority lies in people who fix for the King (Great Elect) a portion of their
produce
-The contract is a basic condition of organized human society for in the absence of
such a contract before the birth of the state, anarchy prevailed. It is, therefore,
existential and neither the subjects nor the state have any choice outside it.
-The state arises as a punitive institution charged with the responsibility of imposing
law and order without which human beings cannot survive as an orderly society.
The state becomes an agreement between the government and the ruled, wherein
the ruled transfer a part of their sovereignty to state for a specific purpose.
-The relationship between the state and the subject is a contractual obligation in
which one commands and the other obeys. The obligation is mutual and if one party
violates it unilaterally, the other is no longer obligated by the terms of that contract.
-The contract is symbolized by the institution of taxation, which is a payment for
specific work
• At the time of Gautama, 2 types of government – Republican and
Monarchical – constant competition with each other.
• Regular assemblies within tribal groups known as sanghas, that is
government by discussion, main feature of republican government –
They collapsed after Buddha by the middle of 5th century
• Sanghas are intermediate stage between collectivism of popular
tribal assembly and individualism of Monarchical state
• Monarchy flourished in 3 contexts – Individualism, urbanisation &
density of population.
Theories of Kingship
-Necessity of the existence of the state for orderly human society
-The rights of private property and family can prevail only under the state’s
regulatory and punitive authority
-Origin of Monarchy in Agganna Sutta, refers to myth when man deteriorates
from original state of nature of Rousseau to Hobbes
-Greed, dishonest, quarrelsome and violent man emerges. People select the king
to ensure common good and they agree to give a proportion of his rights
-Origin of Kingship in a social contract.
• Buddha describes origin of 4 social classes –
1. Landed ruling class , 2. Priestly class, 3. Trading class
4. Hunters
• Monarchy preferable to anarchy – one individual could control aggressive,
violent and self-assertive individual
• Agganna Sutta challenges Vedic ideas of maintaining social order based on
Varna Ashrama Dharma.
• The context in which monarchy flourished
1. Private property (theft)
2. Family (Dhamma)
For the early Buddhists, the state generally means the monarch, though the
Buddha and many of his disciples came from oligarchic republics. (Gokhale) The
terms commonly used for the state are rattha (country), rajja (kingdom) or
vegeta (subjugated territory).
Notion of Sovereignty

The state is a sovereign entity and its sovereignty is expressed by a variety of

terms such as ānā, ādhipacca, issariya, vasa and siri.
Ānā means order or command and implies ability to give orders to all.
Ādhipacca signifies overlordship, the quality of imposing superiority over
others.
Issariya, which is also called vasa, is the quality of exercising overwhelming
influence or control, the capacity to impose sovereignty.
Siri is splendor, beauty, glory, majesty and prosperity and is based on material
possessions. Sovereignty connotes total authority, an ability to reward and
punish, capacity to give orders to all and receive orders from none.
Seven symbols of Sovereignty
• Unique to Buddhism Sattharatana or 7 constituent elements of
kingship are
1. Cakkaratana – wheel treasure (Dominion)
2. Hathiratna – Elephant treasure (Control over Dominion)
3. Assaratna – Horse treasure (Control over dominion)
4. Parinayakaratna – Councilor treasure (Control over dominion)
5. Itti Ratna – Woman treasure (Basis of control)
6. Maniratna – Precious gems (Basis of control)
7. Gahapati Ratna – people, taxation (Basis of control)
• Features of Buddhist polity –
1. Secular orientation
2. Continuity with Vedic ideas (7 ratnas + Raja)
3. Dichotomy between ideas of actual kingship &
The most frequent challenge came from within: Conspiracy against the throne
and life of the king, robbers and thieves threatening the life and property of
people; etc. For all practical purposes, Samgha withdrew itself from
consideration of war; admission of soldiers was forbidden; talks and stories of
war were denounced; witnessing army parades was treated as waste of time.
v. The Treasury (kosakotthagara)
vi. Allies (Anuyutta khattiya and kuddarajano
vii. The People (manussa); to have four different assemblies (parisas),- one each
for (a) Kshatriyas, (b)Brahmans,(c) Householders (gahapati),(d)Ascetics (samana)
(Forte / Durga not included in the list, as was done by Kautilya) Ideal Kingdom
Early Buddhist View of State: Dhamma and State
Relationship between Buddhism and a well-entrenched and all powerful
monarchical despotism; and the solution is proposed in the theory of two equal
spheres of life:
i. The Dhamma
(a) Kings built monasteries for the Sangha and amended many of their laws,
which otherwise made the Sangha's activities very difficult. The relationship
between the state and Buddhism could be realized through the fact that
Buddhism could not for long remain outside its society. The Buddha and his
disciples were subjects of the state in the area they lived and worked, and
accordingly accommodated the demands of the state by modifying the Vinaya
rules.
(b)Human life comprised of two distinct spheres: the temporal and the spiritual.
The Human life was also explained by two other terms: Atta and Dhamma.
a. Atta is translated as interest advantage, good, blessing, welfare, profit,
prosperity, well-being, riches and wealth. Initially, it was used to mean
something that is vital and desirable both in this world and the next. Later, it was
used to denote affairs of this world, especially of organized society. As worldly
good, it involves the right to enjoy private property and the prerogative to found
a family without the fear of molestation and disruption. However, property and
family can exist only under a set of laws, which ānā can impose on all.
It came closer to Artha, as was used by Kautilya, to describe Vārtā (economy)
and Dandaniti (polity). Both Buddhist rulers, Bimbisara and Ajatasattu recognized
the two spheres of human life, temporal and spiritual.
As the basis of Buddhist political theory, Ajatasattu coined the theory of Two
Wheels including the ‘Wheel of Law’ (Dhammacakka) and the ‘Wheel of
Command’ (ānācakka). (Balkrishna Govind Gokhale, The Early Buddhist View of
State) It was asserted that the affairs of this world and those of next are like two
wheels. Each has its own distinctive identity, but they are also like the wheels of
the chariot, the axle on which they revolve.
Here, they reflect the human society, its desires, aspirations and
destiny. This altogether indicates that dhamma cannot operate in this
world by itself, as it needs the assent of the state, if not support of ānā
or the state.
b. The ānā
State finally became an instrument of the Dhamma:
i. Dhamma as a cosmic force capable of containing the power of state
and regulating its behaviour
ii. The state becomes an ethical institution drawing its authority from
Dhamma and guided by its repository, the Sangha.