Understanding The Idea Of Dharma And Justice In Ancient India - A Study From The Mahabharat And Silapaddikaram
Author: LawSphereX
Category: General Law
Published:
Updated:
UNDERSTANDING THE IDEA OF DHARMA AND JUSTICE
IN ANCIENT INDIA - A STUDY FROM THE MAHABHARAT AND SILAPADDIKARAM Dr. Anupama Ghosh, Assistant Professor, History, Law School, Delhi Metropolitan Education, GGSIPU
ABSTRACT
Law and history are inter-twined. Rules, regulations and the laws governing a society have a deep connection with the existing culture, traditions and customs. History thus emerges as the foundation of understanding the development of the judicial ethos of a place. Thus, historical texts act as a rich repository of the history of the evolution of law and justice administration over time. In India the ancient period is synonymous with a rich corpus of literature comprising the Vedas, the Puranas, the Upanishads and the epics. This paper aims at studying the ideas of justice from two major Indian epics, the Mahabharat and the Tamil classic, Silapaddikaram.
Separated from each other in time and space, the two texts have many interesting interpolations on the notions of dharma and karma, which were the guiding lights of life in ancient Indian society, and especially in the milieu of justice administration. Keywords: dharma, karma, Mahabharat, Yudhisthir, Bhishma, Silapaddikaram, Kovalan, Kannaki
Introduction
The idea that human beings are to be treated equally and fairly by established rules and regulations is not a modern concept. This notion of individuals abiding by the rules and regulations of their own communities is as old as an idea as the human civilization is. Since the earliest times, human communities have always made their own set of rules and regulations in tandem with their social, cultural and religious beliefs. These set of rules and regulations governing the lives of the human communities undergo a change with the corresponding complexities in the society. Therefore, the earliest and the most primitive human communities like the hunting gathering societies are believed to have the most basic rules, such as the division and sharing of resources particularly, food, shelter etc.
However, with the passage of time, human societies underwent a transition from the nomadic way of life to a sedentary life. The sedentary life had its own features which necessitated various new set of rules and regulations, such as those concerning with the changing society, marriages, inheritance and property. In India, since the earliest times, the concept of justice developed in sync with the social, cultural and religious beliefs of the times. As the society transitioned from the simple to more complex, the methods of the dispensation of justice also underwent a change. A detailed study of the various corpus of ancient Indian literature brings forward the fact that the idea of justice had a greater and deeper connotation, which incorporated universal elements.
Thus, in the ancient Indian milieu, justice is identified as one of the major requisites for governing the natural and moral order of the universe. It was believed that the natural and moral order of the universe can only be sustained when that order is based on the premise of Dharma. The preponderance on the aspect of dharma in the ancient Indian context can be understood by the fact, that it was one of the central themes of the major Indian epics. The moral backdrop of the widely read ancient Indian epics, such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharat rests on the victory of dharma at the face of much stronger adversaries. The classic poem of the Sangam literature, Silapaddikaram also covers a variety of themes, a significant one being the concept of dharma and justice.
This paper aims at identifying the strands of justice and dharma in the ancient Indian milieu, through an analysis of two major Indian epics, the Mahabharat and the Silapaddikaram.
The idea of Dharma in Ancient India At the outset it is important to understand the meanings and connotations of dharma. Dharma should not be confused with ‘religion’. In the ancient Indian thought and understanding, dharma signifies upholding virtue, morality and righteousness. According to the ancient Indian writings, a follower of dharma is one who leads a life on the path of virtue, obligations and right deeds and actions. According to eminent historian Romila Thapar, dharma was a set of social and sacred obligations which emphasized the maintenance of social order and the laws of the varna. 1 Mahabharat and Dharma The Mahabharat is a story of war and annihilation between the children of two brothers of the Bharata clan- Dhritharashtra and Pandu.
Set around the plains of Hastinapur, it is a tale of jealousy and rivalry which finally besets a terrible war between the five sons of Pandu or the Pandavas, and the Kauravas, the hundred sons of Dhritharashtra. Within its myriads of characters and stories, the Mahabharat presents various connotations of dharma. The concept of dharma in the ancient Indian setting is mostly identified in terms of social groupings and the dharma or obligations that were part of that particular social group. Dependent on the social hierarchies of the ancient Indian society that is the system of the varnas, different set of dharma obligations were prescribed to the various varnas. Therefore, the correct study and understanding of the Vedas became the obligation and the dharma of the brahmins, while leading a life governing and protecting the society was identified as the kshtriya-dharma.
The Mahabharat also identified the concept and the corresponding obligations of the dharma, though it adds significantly to the term and its concepts, thus widening and enriching its scope. The concept of dharma finds different meanings in the Mahabharat. One of the most important ways in which dharma is understood is through its being the prerogative of a particular individual. Thus, according to its many renderings, a person’s dharma can be understood to be what is right for that particular person, and one person’s dharma can be different from another 1 Thapar, R. - The Penguin History of Early India, from the origins to A. D. 1300, Penguin Books, 2002, p. 131. person’s. 2 Further, the notion of dharma as encapsulated in the Mahabharat, was not always rigid, but was subject and open to change.
It was believed that due to an external stimuli, external condition or situations, the ascertained dharma can undergo a change. Therefore, the Mahabharat deems it acceptable for a brahmin to stray from the path of brahmin dharma, and take up the dharma of the kshtriya when in times of need. In fact, ‘dharma in times of trouble’ is a topic that finds repeated mention in approximately 39 chapters of the Mahabharat. A major portion of the great epic concerns itself with highlighting the dharma of the kings.
Similar to other ancient societies, in ancient India, the power and responsibility of dispensing justice lied solely with the king3. In the Mahabharat, the bulk of the sermon expounding the correct dharma of the king is given by Bhishma after the conclusion of the great war. In the Shanti Parva, Bhishma accorded the subtle points of King’s dharma to Yudhisthir. According to most of the sermons, dispensing justice in the society is one of the major responsibilities of the king. Thus, according to Bhishma, the king’s dharma included his responsibility to punish ‘wrongdoers, to protect his subjects, or to endure both victory and defeat’. Similar to many of the ancient Indian ideals, the Mahabharat also listed the following as the dharma of the kingthe restraint of the senses, kindness, lack of greed and non-violence.
Examples of Justice and Dharma in the Mahabharat After the great war and the victory of the Pandavas, Yudhisthir ascended the throne of Hastinapur, though reluctantly. With the devastations incurred in the war, he seemed to be in a dilemma about dharma and adharma. He seeks to know about those actions which constitute dharma and adharma, and what should be the roles and responsibilities of an ideal king. To abate his many questions, he seeks counsel from Bhishma, who at the time is placed is at the bed of arrows and waiting for the right time to die. The questions of Yudhisthir and the corresponding answers given by Bhishma, become a repository to understand the various meanings and vestiges of dharma. 2 The Mahabharat, abridged and translated by John D. Smith, Penguin Classics, New Delhi, 2009, pp. xviii
3 Ibid. pp.xx
Yudhishthir asks Bhishma that how and with whose counsel and help should a king administer justice. 4 According to Bhishma, the king should appoint a panel of four brahmins and three shudras and one suta. He advises the new king that all cases should always be heard in public and it is the prime responsibility of the king that the justice is done. According to him, punishments should be appropriate. Similar to the conditions prevailing in the ancient times, he mentioned that different punishments should be given to people belonging to different sections of the society. Therefore, he recommended ‘fines for the wealthy, and death or imprisonment for the poor, discipline and beatings for those who behave poorly, and encouragement and gifts for the educated, while the worst offenders should suffer death by torture’.
Expounding in greater details, the idea of justice, Bhishma mentions that everything in a state depends on directly upon the king’s administration of justice, and called it the ‘Rod of Force’. To this Bhishma counsels that ‘a king who wields the rod of force properly acquires not adharma but dharma’. According to Bhishma, ‘the rod is a great god, it may assume the form of ant weapon that inflicts violence. Without it, men would destroy one another. The rod is the administration of justice, which in turn is dharma’. 5 Bhishma explained the idea of the origin of the rod of force through a story. According to the story Brahma was once engaged in a sacrifice, and the rod of force vanished, because he was too happy and content. As a result, conditions of anarchy set in, which in turn led Brahma to request Vishnu to end the anarchy and restore order.
It was then, that Vishnu created himself as the rod of force, and appointed the various deities to their duties. This rod was then, subsequently passed down to Manu and his sons, and that it exists so that it can protect. 6 An important aspect in the administration of justice, according to Bhishma was the idea of punishment. Insisting on its significance, Bhishma expounded that a king’s highest dharma is to administer justice and punishment. In his counsel to Yudhishthir, Bhishma explained that a king is not a product of his time, but instead he determines it. It is the way and manner in which a king expounds justice and punishment, that identifies an age. Thus, a king may create a krta
4 Ibid, pp. 612
5 Ibid, pp.618
6 Ibid, pp. 619
age if he enforces punishment in full, a treta age is he abandons a quarter of it, dvapar age if he abandons a half and kali age if he abandons it completely. This in his opinion, not only had a bearing on the times, but even the rewards the king will reap, because after his death, a king will gain rewards appropriate to the age he brought into being. 7 Justice and Dharma in Silapaddikaram Silapaddikaram written by Illango Adigal ranks as one of the greatest epics of Tamil Sangam age. The Tamil Sangams were mostly gatherings or congregations of Tamil writers, poets and intellectuals. The Sangam literature usually refers to the body of ancient Tamil writings which were a product of these congregations, and mostly dated from the 4th to the 1st Century. The Silapaddikaram ranks as one of the Five great epics of Tamil literature.
Regarded as one of the jewels of Tamil literary tradition, the text is a beautiful combination of poetry and prose. The story starts at the ancient city of Puhar and traces the life of a young couple, Kovalan and Kannaki. 8 Belonging to affluent merchant families, the couple lead an easy life till Kovalan meets a famous dancer and courtesan, Madhavi. Kovalan falls in love with Madhavi and decided to leave his wife, Kannaki, who is then left extremely dejected and heart-broken. However, before long, Kovalan understood his mistake and comes back to his wife. The couple reunites and decides to move to Madurai to start afresh. Having squandered a lot of wealth on Madhavi, Kovalan finds it difficult to sustain in Madurai. Kannaki comes to his aid once again, and gives him her precious anklet to sell.
Unknown to Kovalan, there is a commotion in the market as a precious anklet belonging to the queen has been stolen. When Kovalan, approaches a goldsmith to sell the anklet given by Kannaki, the goldsmith informs the royal house, and Kovalan is charged with the theft of the queen’s anklet. Without any trial, Kovalan is given a death sentence and is killed. When Kannaki finds out about the death of her husband, she is distraught. In her anger she storms the royal palace, denouncing the king and how he had moved away from his path of dharma. She then breaks open her anklet and proves that unlike the queen’s anklet which had pearls embedded in it, the anklet of Kannaki had precious rubies in it. The idea that the king
7 Ibid pp. 609
8 The Silapaddikaram – The Tale of Anklet, translated by R.Parhasarthy, Penguin Books, 1993.
had done this injustice is enough for the king to feel extreme remorse and he dies soon, followed by his queen. Silapaddikaram and examples of notion of justice The Silapaddikaram is a text that has a variety of themes and sub-themes, such as love, betrayal, religion and gender questions. The text also raises pertinent questions related with the idea of justice and dharma in ancient India. The text presents the idea of justice, as a sacred moral principle, which is the prerogative of all, regardless of social or economic status. The concept of justice has all the vestiges of divine, moral and social aspects. The notion of righteous conduct of an individual throughout his/ her life, is one of the central ways in which dharma is identified in the Tamil text.
The righteous conduct by an individual is a life-long obligation or karma, and it is the karma which ascertains the end and final stages of each individual’s life. In ancient India, the aspect of karma is tied with the social hierarchy of an individual. The position of an individual in the society determined the dharma of an individual. And it was important for each individual to follow the appropriate karma in his/her life, and when one did so, then the person lived a life following dharma. The protagonist of the story Kovalan, veered away from the path of dharma when he left his legally wedded wife, Kannaki for another woman. Even though, he realized his mistake and went back to his wife, he could not wipe away the adharma he had followed as a husband. Therefore, even when he tried to start afresh with his wife, he had to live through the consequences of his adharmic actions.
Therefore, he met the brutal and unjust end to his life in the market, by being unjustly accused of theft. After the injustice meted out to Kovalan, a furious Kannaki vows to destroy the entire world. The city of Madurai begins to burn due to the rage of Kannaki and in order to protect the world order, Gods had to descend to placate Kannaki. She is finally placated and relents of her anger. Kannaki epitomizes all the virtues of a woman. True to the dharma of a woman, she is a dedicated wife and even after an act of betrayal, she accepts her husband. She tried to help her husband and gave her beloved anklet to be kept pawn for some resources. And on his death, points out the adharma done by the king and vents out her fury. In the end, her virtue and never straying away from the path of dharma, leads to be venerated as a goddess.
Over the centuries, Kannaki has earned the place of being considered the goddess of chastity. The most astounding example of the aspect of dharma and adharma in one’s life is the Pandyan King. In the ancient Indian milieu, the king was the supreme authority to dispense justice. The idea of justice administration in ancient India was based on the king, who is presented as a divine figure administrating justice. It was the greatest responsibility of the king to maintain the system of justice administration in the state. However, the Pandyan king was unable to follow his dharma, which led to the death of innocent Kovalan. In Silapaddikaram, the Pandyan king did not examine the facts correctly when Kovalan is presented to him, charged with the theft of the queen’s anklet.
Not looking into the evidences presented, that is the anklet, or listening to any testimony of the accused or anyone else, the king gave the orders for the killing of Kovalan. When the king subverted from his dharma of ensuring justice, he brought himself and his state to the brink of destruction. When Kannaki breaks open her anklet to prove the innocence of Kovalan, the king had no other choice than to die in despair and grief. Even his state undergoes much turmoil due to the rage of Kannaki, till it is placated by the Gods. Conclusion The notion of dharma was deeply embedded into the ancient Indian ethos. The abovementioned texts, that is, the Mahabharat and the Silapaddikaram, in the midst of various other themes, portray the sense of dharma and its significance in the ancient Indian life.
The idea of dharma was contiguous to the existing social customs and traditions, and had a deep bearing on the general justice administration of the times. these texts are also not only the shining examples of the rich literature of ancient India, but are also portray the deep connection between history and law. The ancient Indian texts such as the Arthashastra as the king to be just and responsible, so that he can dispense justice without any partiality and biases. In the text, the Pandyan king did not examine the facts when Kovalan is presented to him, with the charge of stealing the anklet of the queen. When the king subverts from his major ‘dharma’, his wrong karma brings him and his state to the brink of destruction. Similar to what happens in the war of Mahabharat, with the devastation and the destruction. Readings- The Silapaddikaram – The Tale of Anklet, translated by R.
Parhasarthy, Penguin Books, 1993. Pp. 187-188.