Good morning to all so today we are going to discuss about uh uh Buddhist political thought and also we have uh basava political Concepts and his political views on Indian political okay so so yesterday we have uh discussed about Buddhist political ideas and his uh uh historical background of
His personal background so uh Buddhist political discourse is um much more heterogeneous than we usually imagine so there are some text like Bud which has much in common with Hindu text and also Ash belongs to bah school so he does not a to harm others according to so according to
ASA as a a idle King and is Atma one who has conquered himself calm generous and learned fruitful uh and is loved by the people rather than feared so in the Kingdom of idle King rain comes at proper times so women give child birth painlessly kingdom is free from femine
Disease and dangers idle King is paternalistic uh benov so it does not give deal penality punishment aims at Reformation the most important characteristic of the king is compassion so he does not to harm others King is as Sly King is a symbol of sacrifice so Idol King presses the swallow Pride of
The enemies with the Battle of virtue rather than so according to as was ID King yet he had follow so so so if you see the prominent ideas of Buddhism as we discussed in previous class three basic principles are there one is Anika nothing is permanent
Anata Daniel of self duka world is full of Sorrow Four Noble Truths also mentioned in the uh repeat so one is world is full of Sorrow second one is ignorant greed and hatred is a source of Sorrow so third one is Liberation from the sorrow is from ignorance and fourth
One is to liberate from ignorance and follow Eightfold Path as we discussed in previous class there is Eightfold Path is there one is right conduct right speech right thinking right aspiration right beliefs right efforts right contemplation and meditation right source of livelihood these are the Eightfold Path of Buddhism so so also we Have Al we have Buddhist uh political ideas so Buddhist political ideas found in jataka stories of Maha so according to them people living in the early Society elected a prominent person as their leader so as we discussed uh the quality ities of leaders so uh people L an anarchic life of
Enviousness anger selfishness Etc so soon they realized the problems and consequences of such a life so in order to overcome such evils uh they held a meeting for electing ruler by consensus so they called such ruler as Mahar samata Mahar samata means the main function of Mah samata is the
Maintenance of LA and order in the society so people began to offer a portion of their produce and livestock to the ruler so in this way Buddhist literature pointed out that the state originated out of social contract so Buddhist notion of State emancipated that sovereignity resides in the people collectively so people have
The obligation of electing the ruler so there is no scope for hereditary rule during the days of Buddha because uh the ruler the king is elected by the people so there is no hereditary so even though a person assumes Sovereign power he must take the approval of the people through
Election so as like we are now implementing this kind of democratic system so we are electing our leaders are rulers by uh elections so according to Buddhist statecraft uh Buddha elaborated the Republican system of administration so adopted by the rulers of the liav dynasty so uh according to uh
Him he mentioned even main principles of statecraft of the ruler of MAV Dynasty so uh according to this Buddhist statecraft the rulers Master range conventions frequently from making decisions on political matter so they must consider the popular wills and aspirations before taking decisions so so uh they must implement the
Decisions of of the conventions properly and promptly without deviation so they must see that the laws will not remain to the papers so people must participate in the deliberations held by the rulers so decisions must be taken with unity consensus and members participating in the public delegations must keep in mind
People and Public Welfare so there must be coordination between members belonging to old to old and new generations so ruler must take special care for promoting the welfare of weaker sections of society so ruler must give importance to the Democratic spiritual and educational matters is taking decisions in the conventions and conferences so
Uh if we see the qualities of King according to Buddha the king elected through popular election must poses certain uh qualities so the king must belong to the noble family from the both paternal and maternal s he must have beautiful face and attractive physics he must have abundant property wealth and
Granary and he must posess powerful and strong mil forces he must love immense faith in God he must have liberal attitude he must have perfect knowledge in various SPS he must be able to explain and analyze the Contemporary events and also he must possess intelligence knowledge and wisdom in
Regard to the past present and future events so the jataka story is depicted about the political ideas of contemporary period if you see the Buddhist concept of democracy Buddha gave more importance to the democratic system in his preaching so he emphasized the need for taking into consideration
The popular wishes by the rulers in arriving decisions so he cautioned the rulers about refraining from making anti popular law so he said that the rulers must mold the administration according to the conditions and way of leaving of the people uh in his state so they must
Formulate and Implement new La as per popular wishes so people will adopt such Behavior based on the Contemporary values and lifestyle so their activities are regulated by Society Buddhist Legends have mentioned about the coordination between old and new generations in political decision making so they assigned considerable importance to the youth and
Uh um jataka also revealed this by illustrating how mahasa and young man attained higher position in political process and decision making by didn’t of his wisdom and intelligence so however Buddha taught the youth not to act against the existing customs and values so he appealed to the youth to lead
Ideal life as per regulations of society and state so the ruler must have personal restraint he must possess certain uh good traits the uh the 52nd jataka elaborated this element so democracy will be successful when the ruler observes uh certain tenant so the uh ruler must refrain from telling lies he
Must not possess anger or ill will so he must always remember that his authority have uh veral restraints and also the ruler should not Mis utilize public funds and treasury amounts for luxuries so he must strive to earn abundantly for the sake of these people so he must also
Take steps for preserving the public funds the ruler must always adopt good suggestions he will not resort to warrow unnecessary creating new Emin so uh the ruler must assure the military conferen confrontational quality so daikaya a standard Buddhist text contained a reference about this so it says that the ruler must not develop
Enmity against the neighboring rulers so he must strive to improve friendly relations with neighbors so people of neighboring states will respect and honor the ruler who assigns importance to the uh friendship so so if you see the social contract of this uh Buddha it is clear that the original of state is
Result of social contract earlier individual conduct was moral and they abided by principle of Dharma there were peace and Harmony in society later people became selfish egoistic and hence Anarchy emerged in society and for maintaining social order so state became necessary so the functions of state were
Similar to those of arastra and Dharma shastra so Buddhist traditional two beliefs in welfare state so the primary objective of state is the well-being of the people and uh in in Buddhist tradition morality Centric Dharma will occupies highest place so King is also subject to morality if moral principles
Are NE neglected by the king automatically people will not follow moral path so this lead to the development of anger in nature subsequently there will be no rain no crops people will die due to hanger uh it means diversion from moral path will result in destruction of community so
Politics becomes secondary to morality there is no Cosmic moral order in the universe so if you see the form of government according to Buddha Buddha Dharma and S are three basic elements of Buddhist tradition what are they Buddha Dharma and S so evolution of s refers various forms
Of government so Buddha was himself a leader of s he alone decid decided initiation uh in s there was no consultation with other monkss s was not based on any formal rulers and regulations so s is fully controlled by Buddha so politically it is considered as monarchial form of government so with
The increase in size of sa functions of s is also transferred to monks B training and super vision of monks is given to senior monks so power of s lies in the group of mons so now s became more organized and like admission of mons and training belong to the
Entire community community stands for s in the first phase of evolution of s uh division uh making power belong to Buddha but in the third phase entire power and decision making is given to entire community so this is very similar to Republic or democratic form of government
So this is the uh Buddhist political thinking so early Buddhism was uh based on empirical evidence gained by the sense organs uh Buddha Focus over practical question of end of suffering he did not engage in metaphysical debate and religious scriptures so the Buddhist Traditions present multiple path of Liberation
So so as we discussed he was brought up in princely States when he encountered old man sick man a dead man he decided to renounce his uh worldly life in of Truth at the age of 29 so this is the Buddhist political thought so uh we have uh the topic of Bava
So Frankly Speaking it is very difficult to trace basaveswara political ideology in one segment uh but when a serious uh student of political science uh studies his vas his right WR ings in Canada literature deeply he will certainly Trace one or the other political ideology of the Great Indian philosopher
His vas are not restricted to any particular Theory or ideology so his single vas gives many and varied meanings which is his speciality so when vas are interpreted properly one will get right meaning of it so if you see his personal life basaveswara is the sole Indian leader in socioeconomic religious political
Revolution that took place in the 12th century so according to a British uh thinker arur Mes in his book The Land of lingam says basaveswara is the uh Indian independent thinker he fought against the manad the Priestly class when they were at the peak so he tried to abolish
Cast system through freedom of speech and reason so basa advocated that the B birth everyone is equal women are equally competent with men those who we linga are equals they can eat together together and marriage among them as valid so when we go through the vas of
Basava we find uh separate uh some political views but one has to remember that these are not exclusively political views of basaveswara so the way we you interpret his vas accordingly you will get the meaning so if you see according to basava democracy basaveswara is the first Indian thinker who started the
System of deliberation and discussion so in that sense he is a real Democrat he Ana Mana Ana manapa is at Kalan is the perfect example of a legislative body so people from all walks of life were its members he called upon them as shanas who are the pure and real citizens so
Saranas were free to express their views during deliberations and discussions at the manapa so all of them used to participate actively in the proceedings of Ana manapa so basaveswara was the leader of his body but when we study him we find that he listen to everybody before coming to a
Conclusion that shows the true character of a Democratic leader so basaveswara acted according to the rulers and regulations established by the an manapa so it was constitutional and representative body so all the members were bonded by its rules the decision that we are taken in this body for
Majority decisions so according to uh rangat Dakar uh though all other members in an manapa cooperated with basava so he is the real leader the chief the driving force and the central figure for all the discussions so but one thing is to be noticed he never imposed his views on
Others so before taking a decision on any issue the views of each and every member was uh considered so so in his statement the one who wishes the betterment of every living creature shows that he was very much interested in this welfare of all in the early 12th century he developed a
Concept of welfare state uh he thinks of the establishment of a new political Society uh where in every individual was given importance irrespective of his cast Creed race or sex so basaveswara is one of the firm belief that uh the power of good people is the first and foremost
Asset of a state so happiness of the people is the happiness of the state so the power of the people was the power of the state according to basava so uh according to basava uh the equality the concept of equality uh is very clear and concrete uh his single statement no one is
Inferior to me and no one is superior to the Shiva B so it it shows his concerned for equality his basic intention was to establish a society of equals through his vas for that he faced a lot of Challenge and opposition from the Priestly class so his One
V uh uh says never ask who is he always say that he is a man clearly shows his intent and concern for the establishment of society of equals so he calls all the shanas as Aya AKA or a example kakaya h m m Etc the highest respect to an
Individual in society Indian Society so he is the first thinker who gave importance to the woman so during his days women were restricted to the four walls of the house but he makes them to attend and participate in the proceedings of an Ana manapa so more
Than 35 women members were there in the an manapa it was more than the present members of Lo SAA so to name a few among them are AKA Mahadev G suavi so uh he makes a strong statement that the base of Purity or Supremacy is not cast but character so according to
Basava the concept of Freedom he feels that Fe establishes Anarchy so if you have to end Anarchy and establish a rule of law there is to be freedom of all s to the sh so he St supporter of individual liberty he says everyone is free to express his views so freedom of
Speech and expression was a common future of the an Mana so just a second so according to basa irrespective of the cast and the cre the members of the an manapa user to participate the proceeding activity so everyone’s view was considered before coming to a conclusion so even women
Members like AMA used to advise and criticize the views of their husband so it is very clear in one of the vas where calls upon his husband not to collect rice more than requirement so she ERS him to return back the extra rice that he has already collected uh to the societ
So uh the concept of slavery according to basava the institution of slavery is very old as Humanity we find Aristotle supporting uh the institution of slavery for his own reasons so slaves were never treated as human beings they were treated as Commodities of Masters it was against the basic concept of uh basar
So so he opposed he uh he says all those who are the disciples and devotees ofal S so uh slaves were never treated as human beings so they were treated as Commodities of Master so so according to this deps the position of slaves during his times the slaves had no Freedom just
They have to follow the orders of their masters so they can do nothing without the guidance Direction and Order of their masters so basaveswara says this institution is Against Humanity so uh the concept of secularism according to basava basar anupa manapa was a secular body the shanas who used
To assemble they belong to all cast and communities so it head was s Al prau who was the lower cast man not cast all the proceedings were conducted under his leadership so kakaya and chanaya were Untouchables madas was a Brahman woman like akam Mahi gangam n
M s m so it was a perfect secular body so with no hesitation we have to say that in 12th century he established a secular institution so uh and also bahad basaveswara was aware of the seriousness of corruption in the 12th century so he wants the general public regarding the EV effects of
Correction corruption through his V here he clearly says that unlawful and unnecessary collection of wealth is sin and harmful to the society so so to control these corruption uh he uh wanted to establish a anti-defection law is the of 20th century but in the 12th century itself basar depicts theal
Attitude of the human beings so it can be seen in his V uh that says uh when one person finds the man of his paste he see speaks like him that is exactly like the present politicians who change their political affiliation like chaman for their own reasons so most of us are of
The opinion that nonalignment uh is the principle of Indian foreign policy but the nonalignment principle was the gift of Bas to the mankind so in his V if he apply this V to foreign policy it is safe for a country to conduct its business so it calls upon
The country countries not to interfere in other Affairs and not to worried about the progress or downfall every state has uh to concentrate on its own business for its Prosperity so the same is applicable to political parties as well as politicians so uh if you see majority of
The political thinkers are of the opinion that rights and Duties are the modern principles but basaveswara speaks of uh the duties of the individual so he fixes seven duties uh to his citizens which are known as saas suas so in this v um he calls upon the people not to steal not
To kill not to lie not to be angry not to insult others not to praise himself and don’t condemn others so it leads to the purification of the Soul so if we take kudala as the na nation and follow these duties you can make a strong and stable
Country don’t steal don’t kill don’t tell lies don’t get angry don’t insult others don’t praise yourself don’t condemn others this is inner purity this is outer Purity this is the path to please our Lord kurala so according to basava his principle of Communism is based on work
That is kayak so work is the physical labor for him so no one is entitled for his food unless he works so the one is involved in work need not to do the linga Puja or gur dasan so if you earn something without work it is of no use
For any religious activity to him one has to collect property to his daily needs only he was against collection of property for tomorrow if he earns more that is to be used for Social Development as it is the pro property of the society so he is of the opinion that
The property is to be divided and dispersed among the members of the society judicially so according to him service to human beings is service to the God so uh looking at all these aspects it is very clear that basara’s contribution to Indian political thoughts is invaluable he gave a new meaning to democracy
Freedom equality communism secularism if his concept of care and love for the shanas shanas means citizens uh is followed by the present politicians it will be great use for the mankind so if his concept of public money for public welfare is followed the real welfare of the state will
Undoubtedly uh be established so Lord basaveswara is no doubt the greatest humanist the world has ever seen so uh so so also uh V moment initiated by basa so his comp his companions like Al pru and Ani this m began in kataka in the mid 12th century the vas argued strongly for the
Equality of all human beings and against brahmanical ideas about cost and the treatment of women so they were also against all forms of ritual and idol worship so so vam is also initiation of uh basa so basaveswara uh strongly condemn the acts of those who propagated distinctive of cast on the
Basis of one’s work for livelihood so a person’s position or status in society should be determined on stle basis of his acts and character and not on the basis of his profession so a dustman has a different job from a school master and is likely to have
Different circle of Prince but uh he ought not to be considered to be an inferior sort of man so basaveswara Advocates not the hereditary profession but pleads for the free choice of occupation and also basaveswara did not Advocate violence in order to bring about equality so but adopted peaceful
And Democratic methods when he did what was to remove glaring differences between man and man though his principles of kaka and Dasa so the equality which basaveswara emphasized as desirable is not the equality of capacity so the inequality which he lamented is not the inequality of personal endowments so but
Of the social uh economic religious and spiritual practices which created inequality and hindered the growth of an individual’s personality he was concerned not with biological phenomena but with a spiritual relation and the conduct to be used and based on it so his view was that men are men because the soul is
Present in every individual so this is about equality so according to basaveswara all the people both male and female are formed of The Seven Elements and come from the same home of woman and thr the same passage both of them share in common in Desires in Temptations the anger and the
Joy and the all gut of passions that the fleshes two so none of the world is delivered through the year where are them the superiority is one over the other so during the basaveswara time the worth of a person was judged on TI basis of his tast alone so he revolted against
The Blind and supersticious practices of deciding a person’s positions and work on the strength of his cast and proclaimed and wor on the strength of his cast so basaveswara did not care for the cast in which a person was born so he recognized the character and conduct and
Actions of the person so he had an idea that human being Shar with all animals uh the need for sustenance and with many animals the capacity to enjoy pleasure do suffer pain so men are men are known by their actions but to what extent are
Men equal so as it is noted earlier in one of his vas basaveswara pointed out the soul is present in every individual irrespective of whether one is a common or man a king or beg is Rich or poor so therefore men should be considered equal so uh it is interesting to note that
Basaveswara leave modern Saints such as s arabindo believed in the Oneness of humanity to quote J MTA is a person having equality of spirit a fundamental Oneness of attitude to all persons so if you see basaveswara uh revolted against the cast system which was given much importance of Education to Priestly classes and
Proclaimed that knowledge was not the Monopoly uh of a few people so education meant for a few was the cause of discrimination of the height and the law so basar pointed out that cast had nothing to do with a person’s achievement so there were persons like Maranda mandri aasta
Durvasa Kasa who were Untouchables it by their good work they become great personalities so these great saints were born in the family of Untouchables yet by D of their achievements good qualities and their live towards Humanity they become notable persons so which fact reveals areas basan that the greatness of a man does
Not lies in his birth but his devotion and Good Deeds hence cast does not matter so uh the primary consideration is that we will are human beings so the very Untouchables therefore whom the Highborn had kept at a distance were provided with equal opportunities by basana to participate in the
Deliberations of the Ana manapa so as we discussed in Ana the equality implemented all the higher Untouchables are part of it and uh and this was one of outstanding aspect of basaveswara achievement so uh it was the laboratory of basas own preaching it equality and so the
Manapa was open to all with without distinctions old and young rich and poor men and wom high and low Kings and servants were all there equal so according to bavar equal respect should be shown to all irrespective of their wealth sex or religion uh respect should
Be shown if they are honest sincere and morally sound and good in their behavior in the present day of context uh particularly in India the measure of man depends on his wealth High connections even though he may be immoral and engaged and also stress tile importance of politeness in speech and behavior
So basaveswara strongly condemned the behavior of higher uh CA people with degraded the very existence of common people so he opposed the Brahman Priestly class system so the common practice was that uh whenever Untouchables and other sections of society used to approach the higher cost people they did not get due respect
And were never asked to sit hence basaveswara condemned suchan attitude and said all human beings belong to one fraternity and uh his one of V clearly indicates that basara believed Universal Brotherhood so he said once none lesser than I hold and I never can be hold a greater than
Shiva’s devote but the feet and my mind this I affirm as the soul truth and the same my life confirm Lord kudala so the this this V is very clear that nobody is Superior in this world and he stresses the need of for kindness and Humanity in one’s Behavior and
Treatment so this is the concept of basava so so he is the Pioneer of V vam so vam is not bwa’s creation however important basa was he was only one among numerous Shiva shanas and uh devotees of Shiva and writers of vas all of whom individually contributed to the further
Growth of the religion so uh like any other text the vas of basa and other vakaras must be read in the light of context which they were written and in light of their author entire so basava criticized the bramman hood and also his time this does not
Mean that he had broken entirely with his anal Heritage so uh the discussion of the role of which he played by the Sanskrit language in education is an example of how facts are sometimes hammered into shape in order to make them fit those preconceptions so uh so this is all about
Uh Bas political thought so we also He also mentioned his vision of castless society so during 12th century basa led a religious revolution in order to kill cast and Creed with threatened to rule the destiny of man as we discussed he opposed the cast system and uh so his Revolution relied around the
Lowcost people and created in them an awareness about the importance of their role in building the new community transcending barriers of cost and having equality of social status and opportunities in all spheres of human life so he regarded all persons including the Highborn priest and lonn Untouchable as equal and gave them equal
Opportunities to work for their own salvation as well as for the welfare of others in the community so bava’s message uh to mankind was the religion and Society are nobody’s private properties and and all that individuals are equal in the eyes of God that they should be treated with equal justice and
Honor so thus all are born out of the same home as we discussed in earlier so basa rejected traditional classification of people into cost but another division between devotees and World link that REM remains is no less strict uh that old one so so so Human Experience shows that
Certain names become fixed or associated with definite sentiments and attitudes of the people towards men and things so similarly the names Brahman chhatria visha and sudra have become associated with certain Sentiments of high and law and are now based on birth rather than worth so therefore in bava’s opinion if new
Ideas uh and ideals have meaning and value these old names should be discontinued in short new things should be accompanied by new names to conclude whatever the historical significance of the IDE of chatab may have been it has outw its utility unless the social idal is destroyed route or branch there cannot
Be Liberty and equality love and social Brotherhood unity and Humanity in the social relations of Hindus along with the VNA system castism too should be eliminated root and Branch it is then uh that a comfortable breath taking atmosphere could be establish it and it is then the men would be able to live
Like humans so he felt that unless and until the existing cast system and religious rigidities are demolished it uh impossible to provide a meaning to the society and to call man a social animal so this is all about basas political concept so we will meet on next class I’m concluding
Today’s class thank you thank you for your participation
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