In the Buddha's Words - Bhikkhu Bodhi [61]
Contrary to certain popular notions, the Buddha did not agitate for the abolition of the Indian class system and attempt to establish a class-less society. Within the Saṅgha, however, all caste distinctions were abrogated from the moment of ordination. People from any of the four social classes who went forth under the Buddha renounced their class titles and prerogatives, becoming known simply as disciples of the Sakyan son (that is, of the Buddha, who was from the Sakyan clan). Whenever the Buddha and his disciples confronted the brahmins’ claim to superiority, they argued vigorously against them. As our text shows, the Buddha maintained that all such claims were groundless. Purification, he contended, was the result of conduct, not of birth, and was thus accessible to those of all four castes. The Buddha even stripped the term “brahmin” of its hereditary accretions, and hearkening back to its original connotation of holy man, defined the true brahmin as the arahant (see MN 98, not included in this anthology).
The next two selections suggest guidelines for political administration. During the Buddha’s time two distinct forms of government prevailed among the states of northern India in which the Buddha moved and taught, monarchical kingdoms and tribal republics. As a spiritual teacher, the Buddha did not prefer one type of government to the other, nor did he actively interfere in affairs of state. But his followers included leaders from both types of state, and thus he occasionally offered them guidance intended to ensure that they would govern their realms in accordance with ethical norms.
The opening scene of the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, the narrative of the Buddha’s last days—Text IV,6(4)—gives us a glimpse into this tumultuous phase of Indian history when Magadha, the rising star among the northern monarchies, was expanding in influence and absorbing its neighboring tribal republics. In the passage reproduced here we see King Ajātasattu, the ruler of Magadha, setting his sights on the Vajjian confederacy, the largest and best organized of the tribal republics. When the sutta opens, he sends his chief minister to inquire from the Buddha whether he has any chance of success in waging war against the Vajjians. The Buddha questions Ānanda about seven conditions of social stability that he had earlier taught the Vajjians, concluding that “as long as they keep to these seven principles, as long as these principles remain in force, the Vajjians may be expected to prosper and not decline.” He then convenes a meeting of the monks and teaches them seven analogous principles of stability applicable to the monastic order.
Since the eventual triumph of the monarchical type of government seemed inevitable, the Buddha sought to establish a model of kingship that could curb the arbitrary exercise of power and subordinate the king to a higher authority. He did so by setting up the ideal of the “wheel-turning monarch,” the righteous king who rules in compliance with the Dhamma, the impersonal law of righteousness (see Text IV,1(1)). The Dhamma that he obeys is the ethical basis for his rule. Symbolized by the sacred wheel-treasure, the Dhamma enables him to subdue without force all the nations of the world and establish a universal reign of peace and virtue based on observance of the five precepts—see Text IV,6(5).
The wheel-turning monarch rules for the welfare and happiness of his subjects and extends protection to all within his realm, even to the birds and beasts. Among his duties is to prevent crime from erupting in his kingdom, and to keep the kingdom safe from crime he must give wealth to those in need, for in the view of the Nikāyas poverty is the breeding ground of criminality. This theme, mentioned among the duties of the wheel-turning monarch in Text IV,6(5), is elaborated in Text IV,6(6). We here see a wise chaplain advise a king