Political Violence In Ancient India
by Upinder Singh /
2017 / English / PDF
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Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru helped create the myth of a
nonviolent ancient India while building a modern independence
movement on the principle of nonviolence
Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru helped create the myth of a
nonviolent ancient India while building a modern independence
movement on the principle of nonviolence(ahimsa)
(ahimsa). But
this myth obscures a troubled and complex heritage: a long
struggle to reconcile the ethics of nonviolence with the need to
use violence to rule. Upinder Singh documents the dynamic tension
between violence and nonviolence in ancient Indian political
thought and practice over twelve hundred years.
. But
this myth obscures a troubled and complex heritage: a long
struggle to reconcile the ethics of nonviolence with the need to
use violence to rule. Upinder Singh documents the dynamic tension
between violence and nonviolence in ancient Indian political
thought and practice over twelve hundred years.Political Violence in Ancient India
Political Violence in Ancient India looks at
representations of kingship and political violence in epics,
religious texts, political treatises, plays, poems, inscriptions,
and art from 600 BCE to 600 CE. As kings controlled their realms,
fought battles, and meted out justice, intellectuals debated the
boundary between the force required to sustain power and the
excess that led to tyranny and oppression. Duty
looks at
representations of kingship and political violence in epics,
religious texts, political treatises, plays, poems, inscriptions,
and art from 600 BCE to 600 CE. As kings controlled their realms,
fought battles, and meted out justice, intellectuals debated the
boundary between the force required to sustain power and the
excess that led to tyranny and oppression. Duty(dharma)
(dharma)
and renunciation were important in this discussion, as were
punishment, war, forest tribes, and the royal hunt. Singh reveals
a range of perspectives that defy rigid religious categorization.
Buddhists, Jainas, and even the pacifist Maurya emperor Ashoka
recognized that absolute nonviolence was impossible for kings.
and renunciation were important in this discussion, as were
punishment, war, forest tribes, and the royal hunt. Singh reveals
a range of perspectives that defy rigid religious categorization.
Buddhists, Jainas, and even the pacifist Maurya emperor Ashoka
recognized that absolute nonviolence was impossible for kings.
By 600 CE religious thinkers, political theorists, and poets had
justified and aestheticized political violence to a great extent.
Nevertheless, questions, doubt, and dissent remained. These
debates are as important for understanding political ideas in the
ancient world as for thinking about the problem of political
violence in our own time.
By 600 CE religious thinkers, political theorists, and poets had
justified and aestheticized political violence to a great extent.
Nevertheless, questions, doubt, and dissent remained. These
debates are as important for understanding political ideas in the
ancient world as for thinking about the problem of political
violence in our own time.