Jaina Political Thought

Author(s): G C Pandey
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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THE JAINA TRADITION OF NITI
The word Ksattra-vidya occurs in the Chandogya in a list of sciences and literally means the science of dominion.' The great Acarya Sankara explains it as the 'science of archery', but that does not square with the primary sense of the word nor its sense when it is found later in early Buddhist literature. It has been argued that Ksattra-vidya should be understood as representing the beginnings of the science of state craft in India. If we interpret Ksattra-vidya as parallel to Brahma-vidya this would appear plausible. As to the surmise that the Ksattra-vidya might have consisted of 'maxims of statecraft' at this stage, one may be allowed to demur. The Ksattriyas were actively engaged in philosophy and claimed to
sion of an independent tradition of knowledge. They were at once rulers and philosopheres. It is, therefore, logical to assume that their wisdom tended to justify their position and functions in the wider scheme of life. Brahman and Ksattra had been traditionally wisdom and power. If Brahmavidya argued for the power of wisdom, eternal as well as enshrined in the Vedic tradition and its specialists, Ksattravidya may be supposed to have argued for the wisdom of power, as of the gods, their divine order and its human representatives in the state. Instead of ruling by the wisdom of the priests, the kings claimed to be wise on their own. Wisdom or Vidya had already moved away even among a section of the Brahmanas from external ritual action to the understanding of its meaning. One interpretation of ritual meaning was that it was a representation of the creative process, cosmic, social and individual. Participating in it meant sustaining the order and acquiring re-creative immortality for oneself. This idea was generalized to mean that the spirit of self-sacrifice in action would consecrate all action. In other words, an inner wisdom, not derived from any external priestly tradition, could enable men to act rightly.
It is this philosophy of right action that constituted the doctrine of the royal sages as found in the Upanisads and the epics. It is the heart of the Gita and the Mahabharata. The Ksattra-dharma or aristocratic ethos depends on it. It interpreted heroism in a moral sense. The duty of the
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