Avirodha refers to non-opposition and non-enmity and could
be read as a recommendation to ruler to submit to the will of the people and
cultivating the spirit of amity among the citizenry. The harmony implied, however, seems to be the
principal lack in most cases and therefore this particular tenet might be one
of the hardest for a ruler to uphold.
Polities are not flat.
They are made of multiple ideologies and people who entertain different
ideas of Utopia. They are not
necessarily made of people who have banished ill-will from their respective
armories. Indeed, some are armed with
weapons far more potent that ill-will.
It is not easy for a ruler to engage in arms-raised ‘non-opposition’
when there’s a bomb-throwing, trigger-happy adventurer clamouring for an audience. This is where the ruler has to be absolutely
on-the-ball when it comes to public opinion.
He/she has to be conscious of majority opinion. There is of course a
need to listen to and address the grievances of others, but always in a spirit
of accommodation, respect and a total rejection of enmity.
How can a ruler ascertain the will of the people? In days gone by rulers would disguise
themselves as commoners and mingle with the people. Today they employ other (in their eyes
‘reliable’) eyes and ears. They employ pollsters. They read election
results. They assess the weight of
protests and try to separate frill from fact and thereby obtain the true
magnitude of objection. They are hampered by vanity, false sense of security,
ego, lack of human resources (not every ‘advisor’ is competent and often
‘confidant’ is assumed to be ‘objective’ at great cost) and an unfortunate but
necessary cocooning from the public.
A leader cannot do justice to the will of the people if
he/she has no fail-safe mechanism to ascertain that ‘will’. People have things to say, about leaders and
leadership, governments and governance, things as they were, as they are and as
they believe they ought to be. Leaders
must ensure that there are avenues for the free expression of all these
views. They should have the wisdom to
look past the invective and malice that often get tagged to criticism. They should exercise compassion in dealing
with the insolent and ill-willed. These
are the preconditions, I believe, for showing fidelity to the Avirodha
principle.
When a leader is unshaken by hosannas, is able to separate
criticism from the malice it is intertwined with, has cultivated the humility
to acknowledge error and the wisdom to promote criticism, he/she disarms the
ill-willed and is strengthened by a greater degree of trust. When a leader betrays the opposite
character-strains, he/she sharpens the weapons of the opponent, loses the trust
of the citizenry and slips to a point where idea is abandoned in favour of the
hardware relevant to maintaining political authority.
No ruler in history had it easy. Enemies there always will be. Those who are
remembered in history not just for the great conquests or driving back invaders
are those who fought the enemy but without enmity. Meeting weapon with weapon is perhaps
inevitable but those who are not burdened by hatred but instead empowered by a
sense of equanimity have a greater chance of emerging victor in the clash of
swords.
The same can be said for ‘soft’ battles. There is a way in which coercion of a non-weapon
kind can be employed to win a battle over ideas, to quell criticism, but that’s
the way of the coward and the weak, not of the statesman or a leader of, for
and with the people. Such leaders would be very lonely creatures for even
friend is not friendly, but inevitably a sycophant and self-seeker.
Avirodha is a virtue that can produce social harmony. It is not enough to appear benign, but that
quality should find expression in word and deed, in law-making and the
execution of articles in the constitution, in spirit and in articulation. Only a leader that is able to obtain the true
pulse of a people, able to differentiate relevant nuance and get a sense of the
tone and temper of heartbeats can see himself in citizen, incomplete, flawed,
armed with conviction as well as doubt, and perforce acquire the humility to
rule and be ruled by their will.
This ends this series on the Dasa Raja Dharma. The entire set is intended to be ‘note’;
conclusion and response lie with reader.
This will be followed by another series, again drawn from the
incomparable wisdom of my teacher, Siddhartha Gauthama, our Budun Wahanse, this
time on his insightful and pithy discourse on free inquiry, the Kalama Sutra,
which, to me, is a must-read for the would-be radical.
Sabbe Satta Bhavantu Sukhitatta; may all beings be
happy!
The following is the complete set of articles on the Dasa Raja Dharma
Dana: the virtue of giving
Sila: the moral component of the Dasa Raja Dharma]
Pariccaga: the third element of the Dasa Raja Dharma
Ajjava: the discourse on honesty and integrity in governance
Majjava: the kinder, gentler elements of governance
Tapa: the virtues of austerity and restraint
Akkodha: the need to eschew enmity
Avihimsa: incorporating non-violence into good governance
Khanti: the virtue of patience and tolerance
Avirodha: a must-cultivate for the effective and benevolent ruler
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