Political Science · Indian Political Thought
UGC NET December 2023 Political Science
Who has stated that religion is the real criterion of Manu's state-polity?
ANalini Sinha
BSatyamitra Dubey ✓ Correct
CMahendra Prasad Singh
DHimanshu Roy
Correct answer: (B) Satyamitra Dubey — Satyamitra Dubey holds that religion is the real criterion of Manu's state-polity, making religious sanction the test of legitimate authority in Manu's scheme.
Explanation
★Satyamitra Dubey holds that religion is the real criterion of Manu's state-polity, making religious sanction the test of legitimate authority in Manu's scheme.
★Manu's polity, derived from the Manusmriti, fuses governance with dharma, so law and kingship draw their force from religious doctrine.
★On this reading, the king's duty, the punishment he inflicts (danda) and the varna order are all justified by sacred prescription rather than secular reason.
★The Manusmriti was among the first Sanskrit texts translated into English, by Sir William Jones in 1794, which shaped later colonial readings of Hindu law.
★Mahendra Prasad Singh and Himanshu Roy are modern editors and commentators on Indian political thought, but the specific 'religion as criterion' formulation is credited to Dubey.
★Nalini Sinha has written on ancient Indian polity, yet is not the author of this particular judgement on Manu.
★The point matters because it frames Manu as a thinker of dharma-rajya, where the moral-religious order and the political order are inseparable.
★Manu held that the state is of divine origin and that the king embodies the qualities of gods such as Indra, Vayu, Yama and Agni.
★Manu's framework rests on the four purusharthas, the aims of human life: dharma (duty), artha (wealth), kama (desire) and moksha (liberation).
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