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________________ 56 Homage to Vaisalz fied its name not only by commercial prosperity, but also by becoming the federal capital of eighteen allied republican states, representative groups of whose peoples also concentrated here in so many Wards,-making it a "cosmc-polis", and its culture cosmopolitan; from the mountains of Central and Eastern Nepal to the banks of the Gomati, Ganga and Kusi, the whole region was represented and blended here, through federation and co-operation. What the local government in the village units of this regions was like, how thoroughly democratic and civically, economically and politically efficient, we know from the accounts of Kautilya. You have recently had a session of the Provincial Political Conference close to this place : for its use in certain ways, I have placed with its organisers a critical account of certain features of this remarkable Kautilyan picture, emphasising the need of reconstruction of our villages of today on those traditional and welltried lines. I commend that sketch of mine to your attention also, as a starting point in remodelling our civic, economic and political life in the Vaisalian way. The freedom of the individual, and the self-sufficiency of the village, decentralization into small republican communities where government was directly in the hands of the people, along with combination of all these free units into unions and federations for certain common purposes,-these were the fundamental principles of the Vaisalian polity. I hope you will realise the wisdom of it, and its significance for us in the context of today; you will realise that Gandhiji instinctively felt drawn towards this cultural heritage, -without having much of an opportunity to study it in detail; but do pause to consider whither we are drifting today, drifting away from him and our own culture. Presently, I am afraid, we will lose our individual liberty, will never have free and self-sufficient village-units, will no longer proceed with decentralisation of government and delegation of powers,--and will in the name of democracy and socialised government, chain the demos and the society to the crushing chariot-wheels of an all-grabbing, all-dictating totalitarian state of the Western type, regimenting the bodies and souls of the individuals. Vaisalians never believed that the State made the Man, with them Map made and unmade his State, like a dwelling house, to suit his need, ideas and ideals. If we still want a democracy that will not lull, purchase, stifle or kill our souls, we have to look to the spacious republican days of Jaina-Buddhistic freedom, as reflected in ancient Vaisali. (4) & (5) In the 'cultural and religious' fields,-the genius of Vaisali manifested itself in so many diverse and fruitful ways, and the selection of features, and their practical adaptation to the modern situation, present 80 many stiff problems requiring deep knowledge and sound wisdom,
| SR No. | 012088 |
| Book Title | Vaishali Abhinandan Granth |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Yogendra Mishra |
| Publisher | Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology and Ahimsa |
| Publication Year | 1985 |
| Total Pages | 592 |
| Language | Hindi, English |
| Classification | Smruti_Granth |
| File Size | 17 MB |