The Science of Indian Polity

By Vijai Singhal

The establishment of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Shri Ram’s birthplace on 22 January 2024, reminds us of the ideal basis of the Indian polity of Ram Rajya, where people lived in peace and harmony, where the kingdom was prosperous and there was no discrimination based on caste, creed, or religion – (सब का साथ, सब का विकास- motto of the present Indian government). The kingdom was prosperous, and the citizens were happy and content. The administration was efficient, and the rulers were just and fair. The people were honest, hardworking, and selfless, and they worked for the common good of society.

India has had an ancient moral and ethical basis of its political philosophy for many thousands of years.

Shukranītisara is a system of morals and ethics in politics authored by Sage Shukracharya in the Vedic period (1500-500 BCE). It is a comprehensive treatise dealing with both the political and non-political aspects required in maintaining social order in the state. The political part deals with guidelines relating to a king, the council of ministers, the justice system, and international laws. Whereas the non-political part deals with morals, economics, architecture, other social, and religious laws. It is older than the Kautilya’s Arthashastra and is mentioned in the Hindu epic of Mahabharat. The politics in Mahabharat is mentioned as Rajniti or Rajdharma.

Shukranītisara deals with the organization of the central government as well as of towns and villages. According to Shukraniti the main responsibility of the king should be to protect his subject and punish the offenders. The king is expected to appoint eight to ten able ministers. These include Purodha (preceptor), Pratinidhi (viceroy), Pradhan (chief secretary), Sachiv (war secretary), Mantri (foreign secretary), Pragvika (chief justice), Pandit (learned advisor), Smantra (minister of finance), Amatya (minister of land revenue), and Duta (ambassador). The king should take their counsel on all matters of the state before arriving at any decision. King is expected to be well versed in the spiritual and philosophical sciences, and science of commercial activities and of jurisprudence.

Shukranītisara lists a total of thirty-two sciences as known to the society then. These include treatises on physical sciences, social sciences, liberal arts, philosophical expositions, and spiritual sciences. Among these, the physical sciences include (1) Shilpashastra which describes science of constructing houses, images, canals etc.; (2) Ayurveda which deals with health, nutrition, and medicine; (3) Jyotish, which is the science of mathematics and astronomy; and (4) Dhanur-Veda which deal with military weapons. Most of the verses of chapter I and II are considered relevant in current day administrations of any democratic state in the world.

Kautilya (or Chanakya) is the author of Arthashastra composed during the reign of the first Maurya king, Chandragupta Maurya (321-297 BCE). Arthashastra is a serious manual on statecraft, on how to run a state, informed by a higher purpose, clear and precise in its prescriptions. It lays down Saptanga, the seven key pillars – Swami (the King), Amatya (ministers), Janpada (the territory), Durg (fortified capital), Kosha (the treasury), Dand (justice or law and order) and Mitra (ally) for running the state.

The village Panchayat managed the affairs of the village communities through an elected council. Land was distributed for cultivation and taxes were collected out of the produce and paid the government share on behalf of the village. Over a number of these smaller council there was a larger Panchayat. In the larger towns there were many artisans and merchants, and craft guilds, mercantile associations, and banking corporations, each of these managing their own domestic affairs. There was a widespread system of self-government in town and villages and the central government seldom interfered. The agrarian system was based on co-operative farming. Individuals and families had certain rights as well as obligations, which were well protected.

There was no theocratic monarchy in India. In Indian polity if the king is unjust or tyrannical, right to rebel against him is admitted. The whole concept of monarchical power differed from that of European feudalism, where the king had authority over all persons and things in his domain. This authority was delegated to lords and barons who vowed allegiance to him. In India there was nothing of this kind. The king had the right to collect certain taxes from the land, justifiably and sustainably without causing undue hardship to the people. In Mahabharat, king Yudhishthira is told by Bhishma that tax should be collected like a honeybee gathering honey from flowers. In India there was no landlord system, as known in the west, nor was the individual peasant the full owner of his patch of land. Both these concepts were introduced much later by the British with disastrous results causing ruthless suppression of the village communities exploiting them with undue pressure for collecting taxes. It is worth noting that the Mughal rulers took special care not to interfere with the existing customs and conventions in this regard.

After independence Mahatma Gandhi advocated for Panchayati Raj as the foundation of India’s political system, as a decentralized form of government at village level. Part IX of the Indian Constitution, Article 243 directs the state to organize the village Panchayats and provide them powers and authority to function as self-government.

The Directive Principles of the State Policy enshrined in Part IV (Articles 36 to 51) of the Indian Constitution embed some of the basic ideals on governance from Shukranīti, Arthashastra and the Mahabharat. For example, Article 38 states: “Promote the welfare of the people by securing a social order through justice-social, economic and political- and to minimize inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities”. For example:

Shukranīti says: नृपस्यपरमोधर्मःप्रजानाम्परिपालनम्,
Meaning “The welfare of his subjects is the prime dharma of a king”.
Chanakya in Arthashastra says: प्रजासुखेसुखंराज्ञःप्रजानांचहितेहितम्।
नात्मप्रियंप्रियंराज्ञःप्रजानांतुप्रियंप्रियम्॥ (अर्थशास्त्र 1/19)

Meaning: “In the happiness of the subjects lies the happiness of the king,
the welfare of the subjects is the welfare of the king”.
In Shanti parva of Mahabharat, Bhishma advises Yudhisthira:

यदह्नाकुरुतेधर्मंप्रजाधर्मेणपालयन्। दशवर्षसहस्राणितस्यभुन्क्तेफलम्दिवि ॥ (शांतिपर्व 71.29)

Meaning: “The king who takes care of his subjects, earns punya equivalent to
ten thousand years in swarga.”

There are many other examples about the adoption of Vedic ideals in the Indian Constitution.
References:

The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shukra-Niti

Articles 36-51 of the Indian Constitution: Tracing their Indic Roots