Raja Dharma or the Science of Governance

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>"sanjeev nayyar"

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>bumper esams >Wed, 19 Sep 2001 21:57:51 +0530 > >Hi Namaskar, >

>Besides five features www.esamskriti.com has 150 pictures uploaded this month

of my recent holiday to Himachal Pradesh and Garwhal. Details below. There is

also a request for funds on behalf of the Ramakrishna Mission Jammu below. >

>1. Raja Dharma or the Science of Governance by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. > >2.

Mysore Dasara - A Living Tradition. > >3. Education in the Vision of Swami

Viveknanda. > >4. Getting married, here is the complete Vivaha ceremony in

English. > >5. Military Science in the Vedas. comes under wars and foreign

affairs. > >The 150 pictures relate to > >1. Vaishnudevi - Jai Mata Di. >2.

Dalhousie and Khajjar. >3. Chamba Valley. >4. Mcleodganj - the home of Dalai

Lama. >5. Kangra Valley. >6. lahaul valey. >7. Spiti valley. >8. kalpa and

Sangla Valley. >9. Valey of Flowers in Garwhal. >10. Badrinath. >11. kedarnath.

>12. Sun Temple, Modehera, Gujarat. > >Request for FUNDS on behalf of

RAMAKRISHNAN MISSION JAMMU. > >The Mission is setting up a new centre in Jammu

that will provide the following facilities. A Shrine Prayer and hall, A Library

&; Reading room, A well equiped Diagonistic centre, Book centre, an Auditorium

and lecture hall, Vivekananda Youth Forum, Piligrims Guest house. > >Total

expenditure Rs 5 crores. Those of you who like to help, send in yr cheques,

demand drafts in favor of Ramakrishna Mission, Jammu. The cheques may please be

sent to The Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission, Udhowala, P O Aqualapur, Jammu Tawi

180002. If you have a problem in sending yr contribution, please mail me.

Please help. I have donated money which is why I am requesting yu to share some

of your wealth too. Drops of water fill the ocean. >RAJA DHARMA or THE SCIENCE

OF GOVERNMENT > > >Courtesy Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha > > >From time to

time one reads articles in Indian newspapers and magazines that the System of

Governance which Bharat follows today was borrowed from the West. It subtly

seeks to imply how grateful we must be to the West, read British, for having

passed on to us modern systems of governance. In school I remember having read

briefly about the Indian kings and how they governed. Somewhere down the line I

lost interest in the subject till I happened to read a book by Sri Aurobindo

titled "Out of the Ruins of the West, India's Rebirth" where he briefly

referred to governance in ancient India. Eager to find an answer I searched and

searched but may be I went to secular book shops, till I happened to read

Satyarth Prakash or Light of Truth by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. Chapter 6 is

called Raja Dharma and tells us about governance in Bharat. > > >This article

is dedicated to Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya for two reasons. One they

successfully drove away the Greeks and destroyed the myth about Greek

superiority. Two Chanakya wrote a great treatise called Arthashashtra which is

a must for every Indian to read. It has chapters on the King, the

Well-organized State, Treasury, Sources of Revenue, Accounts and Audit, Civil

Service Regulations, Law and Justice, Foreign Policy, Defence and War etc. It

is my intent to share with you the contents of Arthashashtra on governance

later, when, let the future decide that. > > >Research work done by Swami

Dayanand was successfully used in a vital political controversy that erupted in

the 20th century. When the Brits set about its newly declared goal of setting up

responsible govt in India, an eminent historian Vincent Smith, rushed to prove

that the attempt to set up self-governing institutions in India was bound to

fail as being alien to it. Sir Shankaran Nair, a member of the

Governor-General-in-Council disagreed on the basis of Kashi Prashad Jayaswal's

Hindu Polity written to expand Dayanand's hints on the places of the Sabhas in

ancient India. > > >What you find below is verbatim reproduction of text from

Satyarth Prakash. Sometimes the contents of a chapter might not match its

title. I have gone from the book and chosen titles to make it easier for you. I

have chipped in my comments here and there. You will find them in brackets to

distinguish them from the text. The article has 8 chapters. > > > > 1..

Introduction. > > > 2.. Qualification of the True King. > > > 3..

Qualifications &; Duties of Ministers, Members of Assembly. > > > 4.. Revenue.

> > > 5.. Taxes and War. > > > 6.. Qualifications of a Friend. > > > 7..

Administration of Justice. > > > 8.. Questions &; Answers on Governance. > >

>Those who want to study the duties of rulers in greater detail would need to

refer to the Vedas, the seventh, eighth and ninth chapters of Manu, the

Shukraniti, Vidurprajagar, Rajadharma, and Apatadharma, chapters of Shantiparva

of the Mahabharata. > > >Introduction Chapter 1 > > >Manu - The great Manu says

to the Rishis, After discoursing on the duties of the four Classes and the four

Orders, we shall now describe Raja Dharma or the duties and qualifications,

etc., of Rulers, in other words, we shall discuss as to who is fit to be a

King, how he is to be selected, and how he can attain the highest

bliss-salvation. Let a Kshatriya, whose knowledge, culture and piety are as

perfect as those of a Brahman, govern the country with perfect justice", in the

following way :- > > >Rig Veda - (God teaches), "Let there be for the benefit of

the rulers and the ruled three Assemblies-1. Religious, 2. Legislative. 3.

Educational. Let each discuss and decide subjects that concern it, and adorn

all men with knowledge, culture, righteousness, independence, and wealth, and

thereby make them happy." > > >Atharva Veda - "Let the three Assemblies,

Military Councils, and the Army harmoniously work together to carry on the

government of a country." > > >Atharva Veda - "A king should address the

Assembly thus: - Let the leader of the Assembly abide by the just laws passed

by the Assembly, and let other members do the same." > > >It means that no

single individual should be invested with absolute power. The king, who is the

president of the Assembly, and the Assembly itself, should be inter-dependent

on each other. Both should be controlled by the people, who in their turn

should be governed by the Assembly. > > >Shatpatha Brahman - If this system be

not followed and the king be independent of the people and live absolute power,

"He would impoverish the people, -being despotic and hence arrogant-and oppress

them, aye, even eat them up, just as a tiger or any other carnivorous animals

pounces upon a robust animals and eats it up. A despotic rules does not let any

one else grow in power, robs the rich, usurps their property by unjust

punishment, and accomplishes his selfish end. One man should, therefore, never

be given despotic power." > > >Atharva Veda - "O men! Let that man alone among

you be made a king - the President of the Assembly - who is a very powerful

conqueror of foes, is never beaten by them, has the capacity to become the

paramount sovereign, is most enlightened, is worthy of being made a President,

who possesses most noble qualities, accomplishments, character and disposition;

who is thoroughly worthy of the homage, trust and respect of all." > > >Yajur

Veda - "O ye learned men! Proclaim that man with one voice your king-the

President and Head of the State-who is just, impartial, well-educated, cultured

and friend of all. In this way alone shall ye attain universal sovereignty, be

greater than all, manage the affairs of the State, obtain political eminence,

acquire wealth, and ride the world of its enemies." > > >Rig Veda - God teaches

in the Veda. "Rulers! your implements of war fare, (such as, guns, rifles. Bows,

arrows, etc.) and war-materials (such as, gunpowder) be worthy of praise, strong

and durable to repel and conquer your enemies. Let your army be a glorious one,

so that you may always be victorious. But the aforesaid things shall not be

attainable to the contemptible, the despicable, and the unjust." In other

words, it is only as long as men remain honorable, just and virtuous that they

are politically great. When they become wicked and unjust, they are absolutely

ruined. > > >Let a nation, therefore, elect the most learned men, as members of

the Educational Assembly, the most devout men, as members of the Religious

Assembly and men of the most praiseworthy character, as members of the

Legislative Assembly; and let that great men in it, who possesses most

excellent qualities, is highly accomplished, and bears most honorable

character, be made the Head or President of the Political Assembly. > > >Let

the three Assemblies harmoniously work together, and make good laws, and let

all abide by those laws. Let them all be of one mind in affairs that promote

the happiness of all. All men should subordinate themselves to the laws that

are calculated to promote general well being; they should be free in matters

relating to individual well being. > > >(To summarize the above, the objective

of governance is to promote happiness. Equal importance is given to religion,

legislature and education who with the aid of the military are responsible for

governance. It means that religion read Dharma played an important role in

society and government responsibility. Education was stressed, is probably, why

we Indians take so naturally to education since it was an important of our lives

from ancient times. Note that the Military is subordinate to the Legislature and

is not part of three assemblies. This could be one of the reasons why the Army

never ruled India. Adequate safeguards existed to prevent the King from

becoming a dictator. Also one of the primary duties of the King was to protect

his subjects from enemies. The importance of good Laws and enforcement is

stressed. That is perhaps one of the biggest failings of Post Independence

India. The belief is you can get away with worse that murder in India today.

Take the stock market, Harshad Mehta, Hiten Dalal, Ketan Parikh, P S

Subramaniam, Jayalalitha, Dawood, Azaruddin. The list is endless. > >

>Qualifications of the Head of the State > > >THE TRUE KING > > >Manu - "The

law alone is the real king, the dispenser of justice, the disciplinarian. The

Law is considered as the surety for the four Classes and Orders to discharge

properly their respective duties. The Law alone is the true Governor that

maintains order among the people. The Law alone is their Protector. The Law

keeps awake whilst all the people are fast asleep. The wise. Therefore, look

upon the Law alone as Dharma or Right. When rightly administered the Law makes

all men happy but when administered wrongly, i.e., without due regard to the

requirement of justice, it ruins the king. All the four Classes would become

corrupt, all order would come to an end, there would be nothing but chaos and

corruption if the Law were not properly enforced. Where the Law-which is

likened unto a fear-inspiring man, black in color and with red eyes-striking

fear into the hearts of the people and preventing them from committing crimes

rules supreme, there the people never go astray, and consequently live in

happiness if it be administered by a just and learned man. He alone is

considered a fit person to administer the Law by the wise, who invariably

speaks the truth, is thoughtful, highly intellectual and very clever in the

attainment of virtue, wealth and righteous desires. The Law rightly

administered by the king greatly promotes the practice of virtue, acquisition

of wealth and secures the attainment of the heart-felt desires of his people.

But the same Law destroys the king who is sensual, indolent, crafty,

malevolent, mean and low-minded. > > >Great is the power and majesty of the

Law. It cannot be administered by a man who is ignorant and unjust. It surely

brings the downfall of the king who deviates from the path of rectitude. > >

>The Law can never be justly administered by a man who is destitute of learning

and culture, has no wise and good men to assist him, and is sunk in sensualism.

He alone is fit to administer the Law-which is another name for justice-who is

wise, pure in heart, of truthful character, associates with the good, conducts

himself according to the law and is assisted by the truly good and great men in

the discharge of his duties." > >cheers sanjeev > >Discover your Roots - Visit

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