The Hoax Called Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – 1: Hitopadesha

[parijataka]

Interesting blog. Politicians starting with Pandit Nehru and continuing with Sonia Gandhi (OK her speech writers as she probably has no idea about hitopadesa or even panchatantra!), Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee continue the tradition of trusting known back stabbers and `being nice` to one and all countries !

How the sloka from Hitopadesa is widely misunderstood, explained using Panchatantra

The Hoax Called Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – 1: Hitopadesha
BY SARVESH K TIWARI

ayaM nijaH paroveti gaNanA laghu-chetasAM
udAra charitAnAM tu vasudhaiva kuTumbhakaM

["This is my own and that a stranger" - is the calculation of the narrow-minded
For the magnanimous-hearts however, the entire earth is but a family]

If a survey of the saMskR^ita verses most quoted in the modern times were undertaken, the above would certainly secure the top rank. Along with its short form 'vasudhaiva kuTumbakam', this shloka somehow finds a massive popularity among the modern Hindus. Of late though, the secular variety seems to have developed quite a fetish for it and the verse has gained a rhetorical note. Apparently it offers them an aesthetic emblem of multiculturalism and universalism, as well as an authority of yore to denounce the nationalistic thought as narrow-minded. Even the most saMskR^ita-phobic ones therefore can be seen reciting this shloka on every sundry occasion.

While we can site several examples of its interesting usage, we shall limit to the following few:

""¦India that once, 2000 years ago, had proclaimed vasudeva(sic) kutumbakam – the world is one family"¦": Ms. Sonia Gandhi in her acceptance speech on occasion of being conferred the "Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold" by Belgian government for her "constructive nationalism and efforts to foster a multicultural, tolerant society in India", on November 11, 2006 at Brussels / Bozar.


And:

"In ancient India the liberal perspective was defined by the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam"¦ in contradiction to the 'Clash of Civilizations'"¦ the theory I don't agree with. We have to reclaim that liberal space." : Dr. Manmohan Singh, The Prime Minister of India, Address to the Harvard Alumni Association, March 25, 2006 at New Delhi.


The shloka of vasudhaiva kuTumbakam being sited to propose it as a contrasting paradigm to the Samuel Huntington's theory of Clash of Civilizations, is both iconic and profound. The shloka is invoked by the speakers to show their liberalist Nehruvian internationalism to be a continuity of the ancient Hindu paradigm; the appeal is made to the Hindu past for approaval and attestation of their ideology; and claim is laid to be the legitimate heir of the continuity of the ancient thought process and legacy.

Had it been limited to the shloka's popularity among the speech-writers to add some aesthetic value to the speeches, not much harm done. But what is much more profound comes in the following:

Speaking in Rajya Sabha on December 5, 2007, the Union Minister for External Affaires Mr. Pranab Mukherjee made it very unambiguous when he jubilantly declared:

"Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is our foreign policy".

Indeed, VK has also become an unchallenged cornerstone of India's official policy-making since independence, as has been officially proclaimed so on several occasions. No wonder that as a symbolic reflection, VK has been literally inscribed in stone, on the walls of the India's Parliament House.

Now, thanks to the continuous rhetoric, traditional Hindus too seem to have taken to this shloka like a duck to the water. vasudhaiva kuTumbakam is often cited by them as an evidence of how the ancient sages had set for themselves, and for generations thereafter, the principles of an unconditional universal brotherhood. It has been generally taken for granted that VK is of unquestionable value, a traditional nIti recommended by wise ancestors of how to deal with the world. We can notice the shloka being quoted uncritically not only by Hindutva ideologues in their writings and speeches but also popular religious leaders in their discourses without getting tired.

However, this prominence to VK in the modern public discourse springs from a superficial or even a perverted understanding. If we study the original sources which recited it in the first place, it becomes amazingly apparent that its popular understanding is simply blundered, and its application in the matters of policy is a height of ignorance and squarely flawed.

That is precisely the objective of this note in which we shall glean through the original sources, recognize the contexts in which the ancient Hindu-s uttered VK, and most importantly, validate whether it was meant by them as a recommendation.

Contrary to the popular myths, the verse is neither located in R^igveda nor in mahAbhArata, neither in manusmR^iti nor in the purANa-s. Thus far, we have seen the verse in the following saMskR^ita sources: hitopadesha, pa~nchatantra, certain compendiums of chANakya and bhaR^trihari, mahA-upaniShadam, certain recensions of vikrama-charita, and finally in the works of the great kAshmIraka poet bhaTTa udbhaTa. While there might be additional sources of the verse as well, which we might identify in future, here we shall make an excursion into these texts identified so far, and understand the proper contexts and true purport of VK in each occurrence.

vasudhaiva kuTumbakam in hitopadesha

That this verse comes to us from the massive web of tales called hitopadesha, this I accidentally learnt while reading the preface of Mahadevi Varma's collection of autobiographical essays called "Mera Parivar" (My Family). The towering modern-Hindi poetess was a lover of animals and had in her home a curious gathering of different creatures which is what she described as her family in this book. The preface compares her family to 'vasudhaiva kuTumbakam of the creatures described in pa~nchatantra' — although the author would have really meant hitopadesha — and that is how I came upon pa~nchatantra and hitopadesha in search for origins of VK.

Several centuries before Friedrich Froebel proposed the ideas about educating the child through entertaining activities – kindergarten as he called it – teaching young pupils through entertainment must have been a successful practice in India. If the terse instructions are wrapped inside intriguing and memorable tales, not only are the lessons better received by the instructed, but also acquire meaningfulness and longevity of the teaching — arguably the discovery of this principle is to the credit of ancient Hindu-s, and hitopadesha is a shining evidence of the same. It was compiled by nArAyaNa paNDita in roughly 5th century of the CE either in magadha or in bangal, as a textbook for two young princes who being hard at studies were dropouts from the conventional schooling.

Organized into four chapters, hitopadesha is a fascinating loop of one tale inside the other which itself is inside the other tale – going all the way back up to the kathAmukha or the face-tale. Vasudhaiva kuTumbakam makes its sole appearance in its first chapter known as mitra-lAbhaH ('Gaining of Friends'). A mouse named hiraNyaka relates to his friend laghu-patanaka the Crow, a story about another Crow, the Deer and ksudrabuddhi the Jackal, and inside this story ksudrabuddhi the Jackal would recite VK as a reaction after hearing from this Crow another story known as 'jaradgava the Vulture and dIrghakarNa the Cat'.

Encapsulated in this intriguing way within three layers of fables is this important message about VK that nArAyaNa paNDita the great teacher of politics relayed to his pupils. To understand the context in which VK is quoted and more importantly the instruction of the teacher about it, let us enjoy these two stories: one in which the VK is uttered; and another in response to which it is uttered. Reproduced in the following paragraphs are both of these in a condensed form.

subuddhi the Crow, chitrA~Nga the Deer, and ksudrabuddhi the Jackal

"Long long ago, in the champakavaTI forest of magadha, there lived two friends – a Deer called chitrA~Nga and a Crow named subuddhi. It so happened that a Jackal named kshudra-buddhi, (the proposer of vasudhaiva kuTumbakam, as we shall soon see), was passing by and his eyes caught hold of the healthy Deer as he was grazing nearby. The lust to devour him immediately arose in the Jackal's mind, but knowing Deer to be too swift in a chase, he decided to fall back on his cunning – to win first the confidence of the Deer. The VK-preacher therefore approached the Deer, saluted him, and introduced himself as a lonely newcomer with friendly intentions, and proposed a friendship and brotherhood with the Deer. The naive Deer fell for the sweet words of kshudra-buddhi, and not knowing his true intentions, invited him to his own dwellings.

So, they started towards the Deer's place, and on their way sitting on the branches of a champaka tree was Deer's old and wise friend subuddhi the Crow. Seeing them passing by, the Crow asked the Deer, 'O chitrA~Nga, who is this second fellow with you? ' 'A Jackal, my new friend', answered the Deer. To this, the Crow asked: 'But, do you know him well enough? One should never extend friendship and shelter to anyone without knowing their real nature and intentions, learning the history of their ilk and giving them a test of time.' The Deer lightly shrugged this aside, saying, 'But this Jackal is very friendly'.

Seeing his friend in delusions, the Crow began relating to him a story about how jaradgava a Vulture was killed by unwisely trusting an impostor (that story reproduced later below). He warned the Deer against trusting the Jackal without learning more about him.

So far the Jackal had kept quiet, and it is at this juncture that he opened his argument with the famous shloka of vasudhaiva kuTumbakam, demanding the Deer to not be of a narrow mind by considering the Crow a friend and himself an alien. The vasudhaiva-kuTumbakam discourse successfully put to rest all doubts that had arisen in the Deer's mind, and dismissing the Crow's wise council he went ahead in bringing the VK-preacher into his home."

The remainder of the story can be summed up in two sentences. The cunning VK-reciting Jackal started dwelling with the naive Deer, and as soon as the opportunity arose, pushed him into a deadly trap. However before he could kill the Deer, our wise hero subuddhi the Crow devised a clever trick by which not only the Deer was rescued but also the VK-reciting Jackal was slain.

Now, that is the context in which VK is recorded in the hitopadesha by the great paNDita of politics nArAyaNa, and he is unambiguously clear about its application when he assigns this shloka to come from a brotherhood-preaching shrewd subversionist. It gives a clear warning against blindly welcoming any idea, individual or group without due diligence of studying their history, nature and intent.

However, let us also read the other story, in response to which the VK is uttered in hitopadesha, which would leave absolutely no room for any doubts in this matter of how hitopadesha treats vasudhaiva kuTumbakam:

jaradgava the Vulture and dIrghakarNa the Cat

While warning his friend against trusting the Jackal, subuddhi the Crow thus addressed the Deer:

"There, on the banks of the mighty bhAgIrathI is a cliff called gR^idharakUTa, and upon it grew a great fig-tree. In the shelter of its hollow lived an old Vulture named jaradgava, who due to old age had neither any eyesight left in his eyes nor nails in his claws. The other birds that lived on that tree were friendly to him, and out of pity used to donate from their own food small portions to him, and this way the poor fellow was passing his days. In return, jaradgava used to guard the little offspring of the birds when the parent birds were away.

One day, when the older birds were gone, a Cat called dIrghakarNa ('Long Eared') came there to make a meal out of the nestlings; and those tiny birds alarmed at seeing him, created noise that roused jaradgava from his slumber. 'Who comes there?' demanded jaradgava. Now dIrghakarNa, on noticing the big Vulture, aborted his meal plans, but as a flight was not possible he resolved to trust his destiny and to approach tactfully. 'Arya,' he responded, 'my salutes to you!' 'Who is that?' asked the Vulture. 'A Cat,' answered dIrghakarNa. 'Lay off, Cat, or I shall slay you,' shouted the Vulture. 'I am ready to die if I deserve death,' said the Cat, 'but first let me be heard.' 'OK then, tell me first your purpose of arrival.' asked jaradgava.

'I live,' melodramatically began dIrghakarNa, 'on the banks of ga~NgA, bathing daily, performing the penance of chandrAyaNa vrata, strictly being a vegetarian like a bramachArI. The birds that come there, speak very highly of you as the one firmly established in dharma and worthy of all respects. So with my curiosity greatly aroused about you, I decided to drop by Sir, to learn from you about nIti and dharma.'

'You appear like so deep gone in learning,' he continued, 'and still Sir, I am surprised that your sense of dharma tells you to be ready to slay a guest! Doesn't the nIti say unambiguously about what a man's dharma is towards his guests?' The Cat then went on delivering an elaborate speech, quoting eloquently from the shAstra-s about the dharma and cut quite an impressive lecture on peace and non-violence.

Shrugging that onslaught of quotations from shAstra-s aside, wise jaradgava interrupted, 'Listen, I know only this, that you are a cat and the cats eat meat. Since here are young birds that I am given to protect, I warn you one last time – leave immediately.'

Upon this, dIrghakarNa intensified his drama, and touching the ground with his two claws and then his ears, invoking all the Gods, he said, 'I have overcome all the passions by practicing the chandrAyaNa vrata; I have learnt the shAstra-s; and I am a follower of the religion that is called non-violence itself. And so he went on.

Such prolonged drama of the Cat finally silenced the old Vulture, who at last allowed him to live in the hollow of the tree with himself.

With the passage of days, and having gained more confidence of the Vulture, the Cat slowly began picking the nestlings for his meal. After devouring them one by one, the cunning fellow would drop their bones near the hollow of jaradgava, who being blind did not notice it.

One day, alarmed at their children going missing, the parent birds began investigating. The shrewd cat quickly made his escape, and the birds soon discovered the bones near the hollow of jaradgava. They at once inferred that their children had been eaten away by the old Vulture in whom they had placed their trust. Thus enraged the birds swiftly executed jaradgava in no time. Although being innocent and a true well-wisher of the birds, he paid for the folly of giving shelter to the wrong kind."

Above story is which evokes the vasudhaiva kuTumbakam from the cunning subversionist in hitopadesha.

We should be by now convinced that the ancient AchArya of politics nArAyaNa paNDita was not teaching the policy of universal and blind brotherhood to his pupils. Quite to the contrary, he is actually warning precisely against this tendency of blind application of this brotherhood in the matters of policy, as is being apparently taught and believed by the modern powers that be of India and the gullible preachers and scholars.

 

[parijataka]

Part II of same blog. Application to statecraft per Kautilya.

The Hoax Called Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – 2: Panchatantra and Kautilya
BY SARVESH K TIWARI

In the previous part, we had gleaned through hitopadesha to understand the message of the ancient AchArya of politics about 'vasudhaiva kuTumbakam', encapsulated in a pair of satirical fables. Far from coming as an ideal or a recommendation, the shloka there was made to come from a shrewd subversionist, the lesson being that one has to exercise discretion from unwittingly trusting such brotherhood-preachers, and that the price for befriending and sheltering the wrong kind under the influence of such unconditional brotherhood, is nothing less than self-destruction. In the present part we continue our excursion into other primary saMskR^ita sources, in particular pa~nchatantra and chANakyan literature, to understand the total meaning and context of vasudhaiva kuTumbakam.

vasudhaiva kuTumbakam in pa~nchatantra

While developing the textbook of hitopadesha, nArAyaNa paNDita had the benefit of referring to, besides other sources, the most widespread repository of fables ever composed on planet, the great pa~nchatantra. In the preface of hitopadesha, nArAyaNa paNDita acknowledges that he composed hitopadesh by "extracting" from pa~nchatantra and the other texts:

"पञ्चतंत्रात्तथान्यस्मात ग्रन्थाद्कृष्य लिख्यते" (हितोपदेश १.९)

Many scholars have convincingly demonstrated that hitopadesha is a contextualized eastern recension of an earlier southern recension of pa~nchatantra.

Now, this amazing and fairly ancient work of AchArya viShNusharman, pa~nchatantra is probably the single most traveled, widespread and translated work of the ancient world, and dateable with fair certainty back to the late mauryan period, of around third century before CE. The place of its composition is a matter of debates, and varying opinions place it from Kashmir to Nepal to South India. Beyond any doubt however is that soon after its composition, it got transmitted amazingly to almost all the contemporary major civilizations. As a result, fairly ancient derivations of pa~nchatantra are found under various names in a number of languages, notably in Pehlavi and Persian, Syriac and Turkic, Greek and Latin, Hebrew and Arabic, Tibetan and Chinese. Several of the traditional fables of Europe such as those in Pilpay's, Aesop's, Grimm's and of Persian-Arabic literature are indebted to pa~nchatantra for their origins.

hitopadesha not only inherited from pa~nchatantra the marvelous structure of looping tales, and plots of fables, but also various shloka-s in exact verbatim, and this includes the one of vasudhaiva kuTumbakam too. In aparIkshita-kArakam, the fifth tantra of pa~nchatantra, AchArya viShNusharman records it in a fable known as 'siMha kAraka mUrkha brAhmaNa kathA', and assigns VK to come from a declared fool. To understand the attitude of this nIti-text towards VK, a condensed version of that fable is presented below:

"Once upon a time there lived a group of four young brAhmaNa friends in some nondescript village. Three of these were fools, although very erudite and deep gone in learning of shAstra-s. On the other hand the fourth one was altogether lacking in shAstra-learning, but fairly intelligent.

The learned members of this group once contemplated upon the merits of moving to a city where they could put their scholarship to better use. After all, what good was all the learning if it did not yield them wealth and fame? The idea was approved unanimously and the group at once took off towards a large city at a fair journey's distance.

While going forth on their way, the oldest of the scholar-fools expressed his opinion that it was futile for the un-erudite one to join the excursion. Although the intelligence of that fellow was not in doubt, it was useless in absence of any formal learning, he said. The second scholar-fool agreed too and suggested that the uneducated one should rather return back to their home-village.

However the third scholar-fool was more generous who reminded the party that although worthless, the fourth one was their childhood friend and therefore they ought to allow him in sharing their exploits. It is at this juncture in the story, that this third fool recites the shloka of vasudhaiva-kuTumbakam, and convinced the other two scholar-fools, to let the uneducated one remain in the party. And on they went.

Upon going a little further the travelers came upon a decaying carcass of some creature been long dead. Seeing that, the learned members immediately decided to put their learning to test by making the dead creature come alive.

The scholar-fool number-one used his knowledge in gathering and properly reassembling the skeleton according to its accurate anatomy. The number-two successfully applied his formulae in adding organs, flesh, and skin. Our VK-reciting third one then began his experiments of breathing prANa into it to finally resurrect it.

At this point the fourth fellow, the intelligent though uneducated one, interrupted them. 'Friends, wait a minute,' warned the intelligent one, 'listen, this dead-body appears like that of a lion, and you people want to bring it to life. Surely, my learned friends, if you resurrect the lion, it would put our own lives into grave danger. Therefore, for the sake of our lives better let the beast remain as safely dead as it now is, and move on to our destination.'

But the VK-reciting stupid-scholar wouldn't listen to these words of common-sense and the warning was shrugged aside.

At last seeing the scholars foolishly bent upon performing the suicidal act, the wise one at once climbed the tallest tree he could locate nearby. As anticipated, the VK-reciter successfully resurrected the lion, and no sooner did the lion come alive, it devoured all the three foolish brAhmaNa-s. Only the uneducated one, having wisely climbed the tree, escaped the sorry fate of their shAstra-knowing friends and returned home lamenting for the unnecessary and foolish ends of his mates, especially the kind-hearted but naive VK-reciting one."

This is the story inside which vasudhaiva kuTumbakaM finds a place in pa~nchatantra.

Surely if nArAyaNa paNDita had made some rather acidic use of VK in satires of hitopadesha, viShNusharman did not display much regard for it either when he first declared this character a mUrkha, an idiot, and then had this idiotic character recite the shloka of vasudhaiva kuTumbakam. In the argument of this foolish brAhmaNa which he delivers to convince his other friends about letting the fourth friend continue in the party, quoting this shloka seems quite unnecessary or even grossly irrelevant. It does appear likely that the shloka was deliberately inserted in the dialog by viShNusharman to be made to come from a foolish character, the lesson being that un-erudite commonsense is far superior to impractical adherence to shAstrIya-learning.

Furthermore, the great viShNusharman leaves no room for any doubt about his attitude towards VK, when he lets its preacher, a declared fool already, perish by his own stupidity, meeting the same end as that of the VK-reciting Jackal of hitopadesha who was slain by subuddhi the Crow, the realist hero.

We now have ample reasons to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that both the textbooks on nIti-education – pa~nchatantra and hitopadesha – are very critical of the tendency of unconditional application of vasudhaiva kuTumbakaM in the realm of worldly matters. Their message about VK is loud and clear. One: the brotherhood-preaching that VK represents, is a popular instrument of subversion; two: gullible are often seen foolishly seized by it; and three: both are destroyed.

vasudhaiva kuTumbakam and kauTilya's artha-shAstra

Both of these textbooks of nIti, pa~nchatantra and hitopadesha, transmit many popular shloka-s to their students, quoting from several original sources such as itihAsa-purANa-s and earlier nIti-literature. One of the authors whom both predominantly quote is viShNugupta aka chANakya or kauTilya. In fact, in the preface of pa~nchatantra, right in the first two lines, viShNusharman reverently acknowledges kauTilya as a foremost luminary of politics and humbly proposes himself to be in the same line of intellectual succession, besides acknowledging that pa~nchatantra is written by viShNusharman after studying entire artha-shAstra of chANakya:

मनवे वाचस्पतये शुक्राय पाराशराय ससुताय
चाणक्याय च विदुषे नमोस्तु नयशास्त्र-कर्तृभ्यः ||
सकलार्थशास्त्रसारं जगति समालोक्य विष्णुशर्मेदम
तन्त्रैः पञ्चभिर एतच्चकार सुमनोहरं शास्त्रं ||
पञ्चतन्त्र (१, २)

Having fulfilled his mission of establishing the mauryan Empire and stabilizing it as its Prime Minister, kauTilya is said to have retired to southern India where he dedicated long years in collecting and editing various extant sources on the matters of polity and economics, and compiling a unified compendium along with his own contributions as arthashAstra. As we know, in even farther ancient India, all the knowledge used to get appended into the common body of shAstra-s, and the growing size of that knowledge must have, after a point, become exceedingly hard to manage. Therefore at some point in history, we start noticing that Hindus started to divide the common shAstra-s into independent shAstra-s for each realm of life – viz. dharma-shAstra-s, artha-shAstra-s, kAma-shAstra-s etc. We even notice the emergence of shAstra for niche subjects such as nATya-shAstra for dramatics, and pAka-shAstra for cookery and so on.

kauTilya's work should therefore be seen in this context as a window through which we can understand the political philosophy of ancient Hindus, not only of kauTilya but also of even earlier than him. Indeed, in preparing arthashAstra, he consulted all the important sources from at least five distinct schools of politics then prevailing (mAnava, bArhaspatya, aushanasa, pArAshara, and AmbhIya) and quotes in arthashAstra from the works of not less than thirteen individual authors of past whom he refers by name: bhAradvAja, vishAlAksha, pArAshara, pishuna, kauNapadanta, vAtavyAdhi, bAhudanti-putra, kAtyAyana, kaNi~Nka-bhAradvAja, dIrgha-chArAyaNa, ghoTaka-mukha, ki~njalka, and pishuna-putra. Here it is important to highlight that kauTilya has quoted the opinions of these earlier authors not only where he agreed with them, but also where he radically disagreed. Under various topics, he first quotes them, and then expresses his personal agreement or disagreement along with an explanation.

Even as the preceding paragraphs might have appeared like a digression from our subject of vasudhaiva kuTumbakam, but it was indispensable to establish first the background of kauTilya's arthashAstra, and to show that although the various works of all of those individual authors are not extant anymore, kauTilya's artha-shAstra alone, gives us a single source to understand the authentic political thought process of Hindus as propagated by several ancient AchAryas of nIti. Having said this, not only the verse of vasudhaiva kuTumbakam is missing in artha-shAstra, but in fact the sentiment is very incompatible with what they thought of state policy.

If unconditionally applied in the realm of statecraft as a pivotal hinge, VK manifests itself as it has done, in a state with pusillanimity and diffidence as its operating principles, and banal bhai-bhai rhetoric as its anthem. It summarily stands for a Soft State with minimalistic governance leaning towards an organized milder anarchy. And kauTilya has nothing but contempt for such a state.

Contrary to such romanticist-anarchic tendencies, kauTilya is a realist and his worldview of basic human nature and society is grounded in perceivable hard realities. He does not consider 'brotherhood' is the core of the state-principle but 'Power to punish the wicked'. In the first book of artha-shAstra kauTilya states, 'अप्रणीतो हि मत्स्यन्यायम उद्भावयन्ति बलीयान, अबलम हि ग्रसते दण्डधर अभावे': that (far from being a family) human society in its very basic nature is like a group of fishes in water, where mightier ones devour the weak, unless a chastising rod is exercised. And therefore the danDa, the chastising rod and power and willingness to wield it, are at the core of the statecraft. Artha is the very purpose of the society he says, by dharma that is achieved, and only daNDa sustains it.

In this worldview he is joined by bhIShma, (whom kauTilya refers as kauNapadanta), expressing the same opinion to the eldest pANdava in the sixty-seventh chapter of shAnti-parvan. Manu too expresses a similar opinion, "यदि न प्रणयेत राजा दण्डम दण्ड्येश्वतन्द्रितः जले मत्स्यानिवाहिंस्यान दुर्बलान बलवत्तराः" (मनुस्मृति ७.२०): If the state would stop un-wearisomely exercising the chastising rod on those deserving to be chastised, the wicked would kill the meek like fish do in water." So these AchArya-s are abundantly clear that if the upholders of the state absolve themselves of their primordial duty, under VK-belief or otherwise, of exercising the daNDa, then there will be no kuTumbakam but only a matsya-nyAya.

Unlike the world-a-family model, kauTilya's arthashAstra also holds that wickedness and enemies are always going to be around and therefore a firm discretion is needed in the matters of statecraft. Identifying the enemies of the country and not hesitating to crush them relentlessly, is an essential part of the duties of statesmen to maintain a sustainable order. Just sample a few of kauTilya's utterances: Like sandalwood does not abound every forest, like each elephant does not carry a mANikya, remember this that not everyone is a gentlemen (CND 2.9); By various means, one should protect one's own people and hurt those of the enemy (AS 14.3); My Lord, follow the rule that there should be no delay in putting down the enemy, even a very strong confederacy of the wicked people. Never be tiresome or hesitate in applying full force against them (AS 5.4).

So, I believe we can move on by saying that at least in kauTilya's opinion, the operating guideline of statesmen holding the duty-rod of the state is not to preach the romantic anarchy of 'vasudhaiva kuTumbakam', but a very realistic distinction between the friend and foe, and an unhesitating suppression of the inimical forces is needed for a sustainable peace in society.

vasudhaiva kuTumbakam in other works of kauTilya

Besides artha-shAstra, there are some other collections that carry the name of chANakya, and contain hundreds of aphorisms popularly attributed to him. Some popular compendiums that carry the name of chANakya include: laghu-chANakya, vR^iddha-chANakya, chANakya-nIti-darpaNaM, chANakya-nIti-shAstra, chANakya-nIti-shataka, chANakya-rAja-nIti-shAstra, chANakyaM, chANakya-shatakaM, chANakya-nIti-vyavahAra-sAra-saMgraha, chANakya-sUtrANi, and rAja-nIti. A few in this list are published, while the most are in manuscript form in various libraries around the world.

Of the above list, the first four – laghu-chANakya, vR^iddha-chANakya, chANakya-nIti-darpaNaM, chANakya-nIti-shAstra – are certainly very widespread, as their manuscripts have been found from a diversity of places as distant as Tamilnadu and Nepal, Gujarat and Bengal, Rajasthan and Karnataka. These four therefore are fairly ancient collections containing as it seems, 'the other' sayings from the pen of chANakya himself. For the rest, it appears more sensible that the later composers might have added the luminary's name to enhance the credibility and popularity of their own products.

Coming back to vasudhaiva kuTumbakam, of all the secondary collections of chANakya's sayings, vasudhaiva kuTumbakaM is found in only one single manuscript of vR^iddha chANakya, in the Tanjore recension, in addition to a certain version of chANakya-nIti-shAstra. In all other widespread manuscripts and sources on the rest of the compendiums of chANakya's aphorisms, VK is simply non-existent just like in artha-shAstra, suggesting a later interpolation by some scribes in these two individual manuscripts, quoting from some other sources.

Ludwig Sternbach had done a signal work in collecting and analyzing all the different sources of chANakya's sayings to compose a unified single compendium of his authentic original aphorisms. He employed a very sound statistical technique to scrub the interpolations. Using this methodology, vasudhaiva kuTumbakaM appears to be a later interpolation coming from some other non-chANakyan source. Sternbach has also demonstrated various other aphorisms popularly thought to be of chANakya to actually be coming from earlier texts like mahAbhArata, showing how those have crept into chANakya's compendiums, suggesting interpolation.

Above all, when the authentic line of thought of chANakya, as represented by artha-shAstra, is brought into consideration, it becomes an impossibility that he would ever recommend VK as a guideline for statecraft or a policy cornerstone for society.

Credit for that innovation is safely with the wise politicians of modern India.

 

[parijataka]

The Hoax Called Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – 3: Vikrama, Poetics and Upanishada

 

[Bhadra]

The original verse is contained in the Mahopanishad VI.71-73. Subsequent ślokas go on to say that those who have no attachments go on to find the Brahman (the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe).

udāraḥ pēśalācāraḥ sarvācārānuvṛttimān |

antaḥ-saṅga-parityāgī bahiḥ-saṁbhāravāniva |

antarvairāgyamādāya bahirāśōnmukhēhitaḥ ||70||

ayaṁ bandhurayaṁ nēti gaṇanā laghucētasām |

udāracaritānāṁ tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam ||71||

bhāvābhāva-vinirmuktaṁ jarāmaraṇavarjitaṁ |

praśānta-kalanārabhyaṁ nīrāgaṁ padamāśraya ||72||

eṣā brāmhī sthitiḥ svacchā niṣkāmā vigatāmayā |

ādāya viharannēvaṁ saṁkaṭēṣu na muhyati ||73||

(Mahōpaniṣad- VI.70-73)


The above text is describing the 'lakṣaṇa' (characteristics) and behaviour of great men who are elevated to the coveted brAmhI sthiti (one who has attained Brahman while still alive. The above says:


Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Bhadra]

The Hoax Called Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – 3: Vikrama, Poetics and Upanishada

Small minded people can only call such a universal concept as hoax.... It is become a fashion amonst so called educated to deride every thing "Hindu"... like the other thread in the forum cursing Brahmins and Chatriyas for destroying Buddhism...

 

[Bhadra]

http://www.drsohanrajtater.com/articles/article31.pdf

 

[parijataka]

Small minded people can only call such a universal concept as hoax.... It is become a fashion amonst so called educated to deride every thing "Hindu"... like the other thread in the forum cursing Brahmins and Chatriyas for destroying Buddhism...

The blog post explains how `vasudhaiva kutumbakam` is misunderstood using Panchatantra, Kautilya etc

`vasudhaiva kutumbakam` applied in a foolish manner is equivalent to our so-called foolish liberals fighting for the rights of terrorists like Ishrat Jahan.

Tomorrow they will say if there is a war no enemy soldiers must be killed - arrest them all and give them a fair trial !

 

[civfanatic]

Small minded people can only call such a universal concept as hoax.... It is become a fashion amonst so called educated to deride every thing "Hindu"... like the other thread in the forum cursing Brahmins and Chatriyas for destroying Buddhism...

The "small-minded people" who wrote this article look like good "Hindus" to me. Their site certainly looks like a typical Hindu site.

Your post is funny though, because it highlights a recurrent theme which I have encountered. Most modern "Hindus" are so confused and clueless about their civilization and "cultural origins", that they cannot even agree on simple philosophical concepts, like the one described in the article. This supports what I have been saying for quite some time; that Indian civilization, in its Classical sense, has long been dead, and what we have now is a mixed civilization which is superficially "Indic", but whose core workings are greatly shaped by foreign civilizational concepts.

 

[parijataka]

The "small-minded people" who wrote this article look like good "Hindus" to me. Their site certainly looks like a typical Hindu site.

Your post is funny though, because it highlights a recurrent theme which I have encountered. Most modern "Hindus" are so confused and clueless about their civilization and "cultural origins", that they cannot even agree on simple philosophical concepts, like the one described in the article. This supports what I have been saying for quite some time; that Indian civilization, in its Classical sense, has long been dead, and what we have now is a mixed civilization which is superficially "Indic", but whose core workings are greatly shaped by foreign civilizational concepts.

Hmm... the blog explains how the concept of vasudhaiva kutumbakam is misinterpreted and misquoted.`vasudhaiva kutumbakam` , as @Bhadra has rightly quoted, is mentioned in the pursuit of brahman not in statecraft.

One example is of Pandit Nehru who talked big on panchasheela and Hindi-Chini bhai bhai while sleeping over defence preparedness and 1962 war happened with ignominious results for India.

 

[civfanatic]

Hmm... the blog explains how the concept of vasudhaiva kutumbakam is misinterpreted and misquoted.`vasudhaiva kutumbakam` , as @Bhadra has rightly quoted, is mentioned in the pursuit of brahman not in statecraft.

One example is of Pandit Nehru who talked big on panchasheela and Hindi-Chini bhai bhai while sleeping over defence preparedness and 1962 war happened with ignominious results for India.

The articles that you posted talk about the relevance of the phrase in the political context. It doesn't mention anything about "pursuing brahman". They are arguing that, in the political context, it means the opposite of what it is generally interpreted to mean:

We should be by now convinced that the ancient AchArya of politics nArAyaNa paNDita was not teaching the policy of universal and blind brotherhood to his pupils. Quite to the contrary, he is actually warning precisely against this tendency of blind application of this brotherhood in the matters of policy, as is being apparently taught and believed by the modern powers that be of India and the gullible preachers and scholars.

I am not saying that they are wrong. I am just saying that statements like the following are hilarious:

Small minded people can only call such a universal concept as hoax.... It is become a fashion amonst so called educated to deride every thing "Hindu"... like the other thread in the forum cursing Brahmins and Chatriyas for destroying Buddhism...

 

[parijataka]

The articles that you posted talk about the relevance of the phrase in the political context. It doesn't mention anything about "pursuing brahman". They are arguing that, in the political context, it means the opposite of what it is generally interpreted to mean:


I am not saying that they are wrong. I am just saying that statements like the following are hilarious:

pursuing brahman - quoted by @Bhadra

misinterpretation of VK - blog post

 

[sob]

The "small-minded people" who wrote this article look like good "Hindus" to me. Their site certainly looks like a typical Hindu site.

Your post is funny though, because it highlights a recurrent theme which I have encountered. Most modern "Hindus" are so confused and clueless about their civilization and "cultural origins", that they cannot even agree on simple philosophical concepts, like the one described in the article. This supports what I have been saying for quite some time; that Indian civilization, in its Classical sense, has long been dead, and what we have now is a mixed civilization which is superficially "Indic", but whose core workings are greatly shaped by foreign civilizational concepts.

I would not go so far as to call it dead, but yes it has kept on evolving over the years, assimilating the various external influences. The last 100 years have been one of western influence led largely by Science and Technology and will definitely reflect on the people today.

 

[Singh]

From a quick read of the article I have some issues

1. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is not our official or unofficial philosophy. It maybe nice to sell it to the people, but that's just an eyewash. Neither was Nehru's policy of Hindi-Chini bhai bhai had any overt relation to VK.

2. India's foreign policy is aptly termed semantic sophistry. When it comes to realpolitik we do what we please but where we are not sure we steadfastly adhere to a "moralistic" "non interfering" stand, perhaps citing VK to assuage any lingering doubts.

3. Indian Civilization has had many streams of thoughts. One cannot claim, that one particular idea in this case "VK" is the summum bonum of our culture and must exclusively be followed.

===

 

[Bhadra]

 

[Bhadra]

http://www.bhavanaustralia.org/bhavan australia 73/Bhavan Australia 73.pdf

 

[Singh]

vasudhaiva kutumbakam` applied in a foolish manner is equivalent to our so-called foolish liberals fighting for the rights of terrorists like Ishrat Jahan.

This is a foolish statement by a narrow-minded j/k

Actually VK has no bearing on the Social Contract, the covenant the State has signed with each citizen of India.

Basically, we all agree to live by the Constitution and if and only if the The State agrees to give us justice.

Its the conservatives/right wingers who are the biggest proponents of the State.

Tomorrow they will say if there is a war no enemy soldiers must be killed - arrest them all and give them a fair trial !

That depends on the Rules of Conduct of the Armed Forces.
India released 90,000 Pakistanis PoWs without even a trial when they were clearly guilty of war crimes. This was a largesse on our part, and had nothing to do with VK.

 

[dhananjay1]

Vasudhā is not my bloody kuṭumbakam, my kuṭumbakam is my kuṭumbakam. A lot of morons living on vasudhā don't even qualify to be called human, let alone treating them as members of my kuṭumbakam.