Indian Unrest Part 17

Although reluctantly, I must add that the lower services of the Government are filled by men who pa.s.sively help extremism. They form the bulk of the total const.i.tuency of our public Press. That is a fact to show their political inclinations. Even they do not hesitate to use their little arts to worry a man known to be "anti-political" whenever he happens to come in contact with them. An agriculturist friend of mine who belonged to the caste to which I have the honour to belong once came to me and asked me why I was taking a particular step connected with the political movements in Kolhapur. The reason he gave for his attempt to dissuade me from partic.i.p.ation in any anti-Brahmanical movement was that every Jain would be put to immense trouble in his dealings with pleaders and clerks simply because another Jain (in this instance myself) was against the leaders of their caste! Another cla.s.s which always forms a check on a pro-government man is composed of the chiefs, sirdars, landholders, &c., who belong to the agitators' caste and who certainly cherish admiration for the doings of the "patriots."

Many of us have to come in contact with some one or other belonging to this cla.s.s and if he be known to favour anything against the great figures of the city-politics, his business is sure to be spoilt.

This is in brief the doleful tale of the loyalist in the Deccan. I shall briefly touch upon one or two things with reference to what will strengthen the hands of the loyal citizen. The first thing is that the Government should boldly come forward to help on the coming into existence of a bigger cla.s.s of educated men among the backward or lower cla.s.ses of the Deccan. The suspicion that they too will join hands with the agitator must vanish once for all. The half-heartedness due to such lurking suspicion gives a fine tool in the hands of Government's enemies. The English people should realize the probable danger of this and should use their vast resources to create a strong body of educated men from the ranks of the loyal castes. H.H. the Maharaja of Kolhapur, in his attempts to break down Brahmanical supremacy, found nothing so useful as the bringing into being of such a cla.s.s and for this he is doing the best he can. Unless this example is followed by the Government, there is no hope of a strong loyal party coming forth to combat the evil work done by Extremists. The strengthening of the loyal Press such as it exists and adding to it is another measure the Government might wisely adopt.

NOTE 25

HINDU THEORIES OF GOVERNMENT.

Englishmen are apt to ignore the hold which ancient Hindu traditions concerning the rights and duties of kings.h.i.+p and the old Hindu theories of government derived from the sacred books of Hinduism still have on the Indian mind. They have been recently reviewed in an article contributed to _The Times_ from a very scholarly pen.

The ancient Hindu theory of government is fully disclosed in the _Mahabharata_, the most majestic work ever produced by the human intellect, a work, too, which is to-day as popular with Indians as when 40 centuries ago it was chanted to instruct the youth and beguile the tedium of the princes of Hastinapura. Unlike all systems of government known to the West, the Hindu system contains no popular element whatever. In it we find no Witanagemote in which the n.o.bles may advise the monarch; still less has it any place for a _comitia centuriata_, with its stormy ma.s.ses of spearmen, to scrutinize and control the encroachments of the Royal prerogative. In the kingdoms described In the _Mahabharata_ the inhabitants are rigidly divided into four wholly distinct and separate cla.s.ses (_Udhyog Parva_, p. 67, Roy's translation). First come the Brahmans whose duty it is to study, to teach, to minister at sacrifices--receiving in return gifts from, "known" or, as we should say, respectable persons. Then follow the _Kshattriyas_ or the warrior cla.s.s, whose whole life has to be spent in fighting and in warlike exercises. Thirdly come the _Vaisyas_ who acquire merit by acc.u.mulating wealth through commerce, cattle-breeding, and agriculture. Fourthly, we have the _Sudras_, or serfs, who are bound to obey the other three cla.s.ses, but who are forbidden to study their scriptures or partake in their sacrifices.

High over all cla.s.ses is the King. He is the living symbol of strength and power. He is "the tiger among men," the "bull of the Bharata race,"

and his form and features bear the visible impress of the Most High. The whole arduous business of government rests on his shoulders. He cannot appeal to his subjects to help him in carrying out good administration nor can he leave his duties to others. For to beseech and to renounce are both against the laws of his order (_Vana Parva_, p. 457). At the utmost he can employ counsellors to advise him, but their numbers must never exceed eight (_canti Parva_, p. 275). In any case they only tender advice when asked (_Udhyog Parva_, p. 100), and the full responsibility of all acts rests on the King only. It is he who must keep up the a.r.s.enals, the depots, the camps, the stables for the cavalry, the lines for the elephants, and replenish the military storehouses with bows and arrows. It is he who must maintain in efficient repair his six different kinds of citadels--his water citadels, his earth citadels, his hill citadels, his human citadels, his forest citadels, and his mud citadels (_canti Parva_, p. 277). It is he who must see that the capital has abundant provisions, impa.s.sable trenches, impenetrable walls; that it teems with elephants, cavalry horses, and war chariots. He must maintain an efficient staff of spies to ascertain the strength of neighbouring monarchs and do his utmost to cause dissension among their servants (_canti Parva_, p. 224). The War Office and the Foreign Office are alike under his immediate heads.h.i.+p. It is for him to conclude treaties, to lead to battle his armies, and during peace to keep them prepared for war (_canti Parva_, p. 228). But the duty which comes before all others is to protect his subjects. That, indeed, is imposed on him as a religious duty. "For having protected his Kingdom a King becomes sanctified and finally sports in Heaven" (_canti Parva_, p. 68).

"Whether he does or does not do any other religious acts, if only he protects his subjects he is thought to accomplish all religion."

(ibid., p. 193).

In return for the proper discharge of his innumerable tasks, he is regarded by his subjects as the incarnation of Indra. He is ent.i.tled to a sixth share of the gross revenue of the country. Fearful penalties attach to the infringement of his rights. "That man who even thinks of doing an injury to the King meets with grief here and h.e.l.l hereafter"

(_canti Parva_, p. 221). "He will be destroyed like a deer that has taken poison." On the other hand, should the King fail to meet his obligations--and above all, if he does not protect his subjects--he offends grievously, "These persons should be avoided like a leaky boat on the sea, a preceptor who does not speak, a priest who has not studied the Scriptures, a King who does not grant protection" (_canti Parva_, p.

176). "A King who does not protect his kingdom takes upon himself a quarter of its sins" (_Drona Parva_, p. 625). In the last resort his subjects will be freed from their allegiance. "If a powerful King approaches kingdoms torn by anarchy from desire of annexing them to his dominions the people should go forward and receive the invader with respect."

In a similar manner the entire civil administration must be conducted by the King. He must see to it that wide roads, shops, and water conduits are constructed. He must look after the streets and by-paths.

He must treat all cla.s.ses impartially, and, above all, scrutinize carefully the work of the Courts of Justice. "The penal code properly applied by the ruler maketh the warders [i.e., Judges] adhere to their respective duties, and leadeth to an acquisition by the ruler himself of virtue." (_Udhyog Parva,_ p. 383). But although the subjects have the right to expect justice they cannot expect kindness or even easy condescension. "The heart of a King is as hard as thunder" _(canti Parva,_ p. 57). "Knowledge makes a man proud, but the King makes him humble" _(canti Parva,_ p. 223). "When the King rules with a complete and strict reliance on the science of chastis.e.m.e.nts, the foremost of ages called the Kirta is said to set in" (ibid., p. 228). "The King must be skilful in smiting" (ibid., p. 174). "Fierceness and ambition are the qualities of the King" (ibid., p. 59). "The King who is mild is regarded as the worst of his kind, like an elephant that is reft of fierceness" (ibid., p. 171). Indeed, failure to treat subjects with rigour is visited with penalties as tremendous as failure to protect them. "They forget their own position and most truly transcend it. They disclose the secret counsels of their master; without the least anxiety they set at nought the King's commands. They wish to sport with the King as with a bird on a string" (ibid., p. 172). And in the end they destroy him. "The King should always be heedful of his subjects as also of his foes. If he becomes heedless they fall on him like vultures upon carrion" (_canti Parva,_ p. 289).

Here we have commended as a pattern of administration a despotism such as the West has never experienced. It is inquisitorial, severe--sometimes, perhaps, wantonly cruel. But from the fearful pitfalls that encompa.s.s weakness it is certain to be sleeplessly vigilant and in the highest degree virile, forceful, and efficient. Now it will be asked what bearing the doctrines of a work four thousand years old have on the problems of the present day. But it must be remembered, as that eminent scholar, the late Mr. Jackson, the victim of the abominable Nasik outrage, pointed out, that Hindu civilization and Hindu thought are at bottom the same now as in the days of Yudhisthira.

The _Mahabharata_ is the constant companion from youth to age of every educated Indian. Its tales have provided matter for the poetry, the drama, and the folk-songs of all ages and of all languages. No Hindu will live in a house facing south, as it is there that lives Yama, the G.o.d of death. No Hindu will go to sleep without murmuring _Takshaka_ as a preventive against snake-bite. For Takshaka rescued the snakes from the vengeance of Janamajaya, the great-grandson of the _Mahabharata_ hero Arjuna. The independent Indian Princes conduct their administration exactly on the lines indicated in the _Mahabharata_, and even States as enlightened as Baroda and Kolhapur still adhere to the Council of eight Ministers recommended in that immortal work. Indeed, its teachings really explain the puzzle of Indian loyalty to the British Government.

According to Western ideas, no amount of _pax Britannica_ would compensate the conquered for foreign rule. The Poles still sigh for the bad old days of independence and misrule, and are in no way comforted by the efficiency of German administration. But the Indian's allegiance to his native kings was, as the _Mahabharata_, lays down, released by their weakness, and he readily transferred his loyalty to those who, although foreign, had yet shown that they could govern vigorously.