Indian politicians including current Prime Minister have made repeated reference to making India a Vishwa Guru. A worthy goal indeed. However, the ground-reality is while India is increasingly discarding its own cultural and knowledge systems and our children grow up believing our ancestors were losers until the West civilised us, the West has appropriated and continues to appropriate and commercialise many of our Vidyas — Yoga, Ayurveda, meditation being prominent among them.
Let me be blunt: India cannot be a Vishwa Guru until India becomes a strong global power, to which the world will look up to and is ready to listen to. Without power there is no influence, and without influence, there can be no impact, no respect. Pursuit of power is essential if a country or a civilisation wants to make a difference, wants to bring a change. Unfortunately, this is where India is lacking. India’s leadership lacks the vision, will, and the mindset to pursue power ethically and to aim to make India great again.
Contrast this with China and its Belt and Road Initiative. Much as Chinese methods are questionable bordering on unethical and its strategic goals inimical to Indian interests, we have to concede that they have the vision and the will to become a global power and that is why the world must give its wishes and actions due importance, whether we like it or not.
If India wishes to play a meaningful part in changing global scenarios, India must be willing to enter the global game of thrones and play it to win. To do this, it must develop the mindset of what Hindu texts call: Vijigishu.
Vijigishu means ‘one who is desirous of victory, one who wants to conquer’. It refers to a king or a political leadership which has aspirations to make their country a global power and the vision, competency and willingness to work towards it. It refers to the mindset of leadership which understands power and is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve victory. They realise that power by itself is not corrupting and is not an end in itself. Instead power must be used as a means for achieving noble and ethical ends. As the famous verse from Chanakya Sutra which says “The root of happiness if Dharma or performance of ethical duties and the root of Dharma is Artha or power and wealth, and the root of Artha is Rajya or country.” That is, the purpose of the political leadership is to gain power and use power for attaining ethical goals.
The concept of ruler as a Vijigishu is mentioned in many texts including Manusmriti (7.154-159) and Arthashastra (Book 6). In both these texts, Vijigishu is mentioned in the context of Mandala theory.
The Mandala (Circle) theory is a theory of statecraft and foreign policy as conceived by ancient Indian scholars and thinkers of polity to help Vijigishuunderst and the geopolitical game and assist him in real time to play his game and eventually reach his goal of becoming Chakravartin — which could be loosely translated as world conqueror, but more precisely it would be one who has attained domination over his Chakra, the circle of influence. In today’s language, Chakravartin is one who has become the global superpower and established his influence everywhere and Vijigishu is one who aspires to attain this.
The Mandalatheory conceives the world in terms of circles of geo-political friends/allies and foes with Vijigishu and his country at the centre. The Mandala consists of a total of twelve components, of which four are most important: (1) Vijigishuor King bent upon conquest, (2) Ari or the Enemy, (3) Madhyama or the Intermediary and (4) Udasina or the Neutral.
Medatithi, the famous commentator on Manusmriti describes three qualities of Vijigishu in his enunciation of Verse 7.155 of the text. He says Vijigishu is the King who has people on his side, who has made up his mind to conquer a certain part of the world, and is endowed with courage and strength. Kautilya (Book 6, Chapter 2) says Vijigishuis one who, being possessed of good character and best-fitted elements of sovereignty, is the fountain of policy. Thus, the vision and willingness, capability and competency, and the popular mandate — all are necessary for a country to become Vijigishu.
India today is in a unique position. It is being ruled by a party which has a popular mandate. It has capability and competency, which can be further built up wherever necessary. Only thing that needs to be developed now is the vision, willingness, and the deep desire among Indian leadership to take India to the global stage not just economically, but in every sense of the world. From commitment to such vision alone can follow required policy changes and concrete steps to move forward.
The Ari or the geo-political enemy is of three kinds – the natural enemy, the artificial enemy and the neighbouring state — says Vīramitrodaya, a text on Dharma written by Mitrami ra. The natural enemy is one who is equal in status (and power) to the Vijigishu and is thus naturally inclined to be in competition. The artificial or acquired enemy is one which is antagonist to Vijigishu and is bent on creating problems for it. The third is of course the neighbouring state. Pakistan is a good example of a State which is both an artificial enemy as well as the immediate neighbour to India. Post Tibet annexation, China can now be considered to fall into all the three categories. Kautilya says that not every neighbouring state is a geopolitical enemy. Based on the intentions and attitudes of the state towards Vijigishu, the neighbouring state could be hostile, friendly, or subservient.
The Madhyama or the Intermediary is the state which occupies a territory close to both the Vijigishu and its immediate enemy in front and which is capable of helping both, whether united or disunited, or of resisting either of them individually. Nepal can be a good example of Madhyama, though it is no position to resist either India or China.
The Udasina or the Neutralis a state which is situated beyond the territory of Vijigishu, Ari, and Madhyamaand which is very powerful and capable of helping the enemy, the conqueror, and the Madhyama together or individually, or of resisting any of them individually. In the context of South Asian geopolitics, the United States is the Udasina.
These four components form the root of the geopolitical circle. The other eight components are states that are friends and foes of each of the four components of the Mandala and share complex relationships amongst each other. This geo-political circle is dynamic and ever-changing and the Vijigishu is expected to continuously put in efforts to consolidate his position, expand his circle of control and influence, and reduce the power of others in the vicinity.
The ideal of Vijigishu is what ancient Indian rulers aspired for. It was the ideal of Vijigishuthat ancient Indian teachers and thinkers of polity conceptualized as the way forward for political leadership. It was this aspiration that had made India a global power and a world-teacher in the past.
India can again become the Chakravartin and the Vishwa Guru it once was. All it has to do is to start with an aspiration to become a Vijigishu.
Nithin Sridhar is an author, speaker, and a commentator on religion, politics and society. He is editor of IndiaFacts and chief curator of Advaita Academy.