Social and political ideas of early Buddhism

Abstract

1.1.1. It has been observed that most social and political ideas properly began with the Greeks, more importantly, from the days of Plato and Aristotle, and that all succeeding social and political thought thought is a footnote and a commentary on Greek But there is also definite and significant thought on social and political ideas in the Indian context2. 1.1.2. The foundation of social and political ideas of the Indian tradition were first laid in the oldest literature of the Vedic period (the Vedic Samhitas and the Brahmanas). These ideas were later developed through varied channels such as the literature of Brahmanical law books (Smrtis), Epics and Puran as, Kautilya's Arthasastra, unorthodox canonical works of the Buddhists and Jainas, the classical Sanskrit and Tamil literature and the literature of historical records of the later periods . 1.1.3. The present work forms a study of the social and political ideas contained in the large body of early Buddhist literature, especially that composed in the Pali language