BPSC 112 Solved Guess Paper for Indian Political Thought-I, IGNOU Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Political Science (BAPSH)

The theory of Karma in the Sramanic tradition

Question: What is the theory of Karma according to Jainism and Buddhism? Explain. (about 400 words)

Both Jainism and Buddhism believed that man could transcend Karma by his own efforts.

The Sramanic tradition means Jainism and Buddhism. It used the theory of Karma to teach the value of a moral life.

Main ideas of the theory

1. Own effort: Man can rise above Karma by his own efforts. No priest or ritual is needed.
2. Immutable law of action: They accepted functional Gods, but said the universal process (Samsar) runs by fixed laws of action (Karma). These laws bring progress and decline.
3. Jain view of souls: Jainism says the world has infinite souls. Each soul tries to clean itself of action particles (Karma).
4. Bondage and rebirth: Karma binds the soul and places it in different bodies in a cycle of birth and rebirth.
5. Past decides present: Our present life is decided by our past karma.
6. Liberation by oneself: Liberation is gained by one's own individual effort through birth, death and rebirth.
7. Moral life: The theory was used to preach a moral life.
8. Rejection of Lokayata: Both rejected the Lokayata (materialist) view of pleasure.
9. Right knowledge: Right knowledge is called kaivalya jnana in Jainism and Nirvana in Buddhism.

Karma and Nirvana

1. Jainism: Man is a slave to sense pleasures. This attaches karmic particles and causes endless life and death. Self-realisation is the only way out.
2. Buddhism: For the Buddha, Nirvana is the Magga (path) to end Dukkha. It is the middle path between pleasure and self-torture.

Conclusion: The theory of Karma put the responsibility on man himself. It made moral action, not ritual, the path to liberation in both Jainism and Buddhism.

Short notes: Islamic sovereignty and kingship

Question: Write short notes on the following in about 200 words each: (a) Concept of sovereignty in the Islamic tradition (Barani) (b) Kingship in the Islamic tradition

(a) Concept of sovereignty

Islamic political thought, during the medieval period, was based on the premise that sovereignty belongs to God.

1. Vicegerency: The Islamic State was only a vicegerency (rule on God's behalf) under God.
2. Shariat supreme: The Shariat was the supreme law for everyone, from the lowest person to the head of state.
3. Barani's dual principles: Barani mixed (i) the Islamic idea of the king as a representative of Khuda and (ii) the Iranian idea of control by power and force.
4. Theocratic: Kautilya's secular sovereignty was replaced by a theocratic one.
5. No contract: Force alone was the source of royalty. Custom and religion only guided the ruler.
6. Three functions: Enforce the Shariat, check sinful acts, and give justice including appointments.
7. Stability: Barani wanted a strong dynastic principle. He preferred affection and favours to command (Alam).

Conclusion: Sovereignty belonged to God, but in practice it was exercised through the Sultan's power.

(b) The nature of kingship

At the head of state was the king, bearing the title of Sultan, indicating the highest civil and military powers combined in the person, receiving this title.

1. Nomination: Elective kingship gave way to nomination by the dying king or by nobles (H.N. Sinha).
2. Representative of God: The king was the source of all powers. Barani said any means were justified if the aim was service of religion.
3. Royal family: Any Sunni Muslim could hold the office in principle; in practice it stayed in the royal family.
4. Absolute power: Monarchs had absolute, indivisible power. Mullahs had their own domain. The Shariat applied only to Muslims.
5. Unitary state: The Sultan was head of the executive, interpreter of laws, supreme judge and supreme commander, helped by an advisory council.

Conclusion: The Sultan combined all state powers, though fear of revolt limited him in practice.

Kautilya's pragmatic vision of the state and the king

Question: In what ways do you believe Kautilya exhibited pragmatic vision in his understanding of the state and the king? (about 400 words)

Kautilya's views on state are similar to what later came to be known as the social contract theory of origin of state.

Pragmatic ideas on the state

1. End of Matsya Nyaya: Matsya Nyaya (big fish swallows small fish) must end. People chose Manu as king for security.
2. Tax for protection: People agreed to pay one-sixth of grains and one-tenth of other goods as tax.
3. State makes its own law: If the state's Dharamnayay conflicts with Dharamshastra, the state's law prevails.
4. Polity separate from religion: Kautilya made artha an end in itself. He separated polity from religion.
5. Organic state: Like Aristotle, he saw the state as a living organism of seven elements.

Pragmatic ideas on the king

1. Human institution: Kautilya did not believe in the divine origin of kingship.
2. Benevolent monarchy: The king is absolute but not a despot. Unjust punishment may cause revolt.
3. Welfare: A king's happiness lies in his subjects' welfare. He helps pregnant women, orphans and the elderly.
4. Eight calamities: He protects people from famine, fire, flood, epidemic, rats and locusts, snakes, wild animals and evil spirits.
5. Self-control: He must give up six enemies: kama, krodha, lobha, mana, mada and harsha.

Conclusion: Kautilya's view was practical. The king rules for people's welfare and stability, not by divine right. So he is called the father of Indian political science.

Akka Mahadevi's critique of the social order

Question: Examine Akka Mahadevi's critique of social order. (about 400 words)

She is deemed to be the first woman who has the traces of feminism or rather she is the archetype of feminism, as early as 12th century.

Akka Mahadevi was born in Udutadi, near Shivamoga in Karnataka, around 1130. She wrote more than 300 vachanas (short verse sayings) in Kannada. Her god and "husband" was Chennamallikarjuna.

Roots of her critique

1. Lingayat tradition: Her parents were Lingayats. The 12th-century Virasaiva movement preached pure love for God, not scriptures.
2. Vachanas as protest: Vachanas stressed unity of speech and action. They rejected social divisions, formal learning and rituals.
3. Anubhava Mantapa: At Kalyana, this "hall of experience" was an open space for debate. Women came forward and spoke there.
4. Ishtalinga: Worship needed no priest. Every Lingayat, of any gender, wore it. This challenged Brahminical superiority.

Her critique of social order

1. Vachanas of women saints as social resistance: Shudras and untouchables were denied literacy. Yet women saints wrote, rejected stereotypes and broke controls on women's sexuality.
2. Breakdown of caste hierarchies: Saints came from all castes and trades: tanners, farmers, cobblers, ferrymen. Pollution by gender or caste was called illogical.
3. Smashing of patriarchy: By treating God as her only husband, she defied the earthly husband and patriarchal control.
4. Critique of monarchy: The Sharanas rejected the belief that the king is master of the state. The Almighty alone is master.
5. Nudity and defiance of social order: She walked naked, covered only by her long hair. It was a protest against control of female sexuality and against marriage.
6. Against custom-ridden society: She resisted a society that crushed women in the name of the Vedas and priesthood.

Criticism

1. Gender bias remained: Women could not become a Jangama or head a mutt.
2. Criticised by women: Other women saints did not welcome discarding clothes.
3. Selective compilation: Her vachanas were compiled much later by kings; they may have picked politically suitable ones.

Conclusion: Akka Mahadevi challenged caste, patriarchy, marriage and monarchy through her devotion and vachanas. She was far ahead of her times.

Kabir's political and social ideas, and his views on women

Question: Analyse Kabir's political and social ideas and also his thoughts on women. (about 400 words)

Kabir's political and social ideals were encapsulated in his utopian ideas which were proposed by him as a worthy alternative to the society of his time.

Socio-political setting

1. 15th-century Banaras: Banaras was a centre of trade, religion and politics. Rising trade gave some mobility to lower sections.
2. Critic of traders: Big traders still came from trading castes. Kabir even compared them to rogues.
3. Exploitation: Big traders and Zamindars, both Hindu and Muslim, exploited the poor of both religions (Roy, 2017).
4. State and priests: The state imposed taxes. The priestly class built religious myths to keep people in place.
5. Revenue critique: He criticised the revenue administration and the elite who oppressed the poor.

His ideal society

1. Utopia: He sang of Amarpur (Immortal Place) and Premnagar (Land of Love). He also shaped the idea of Begumpura (place without sorrow) of Ravidas.
2. No exploitation: No private property; all resources shared.
3. No king, no tax: People take part in collective decisions. There is no hierarchical government and no taxation.
4. No caste, no hate: Caste and religious animosity will not exist.
5. Through Bhakti: This society is possible only through devotion and love for God.
6. Love over books: Worship God and feed the hungry. Wisdom comes from love, not from reading heavy books.
7. Revolutionary call: He asked people to burn their old home and walk with him, rejecting old norms.

Kabir's thoughts on women

1. Faithful wife: He idolised the patriarchal idea of a faithful wife (Roy, 2017).
2. Sati: He at times looked favourably at Sati as pure love (Upadhayay, 2018).
3. Temptation: He warned men that women distract from true devotion.
4. Inconsistency: If one spirit lives in all, he should have supported gender equality. He did not.
5. Exception: His views on women were an exception to his progressive outlook.

Conclusion: Kabir dreamt of a society without exploitation, caste, king or tax, built on Bhakti. But his views on women remained regressive.