It’s time to use the 10 royal virtues to judge our ruling class irrespective of ethnicity and religion
Posted on March 16th, 2014
By Shelton A. Gunaratne(1)
The dasa-raja-dharma or the ten royal virtues contains the Buddhist ideal of governance or kingship. These virtues are applicable to all leaders in society, but particularly to those whom we chose to govern us. The people in Asia have used them for more than 2,500 years to judge the performance of their rulers, who could reform themselves through public feedback after getting accustomed to the perks of power over time.
The dasa raja dhamma appears in Sutta, KuddakanikÄya, JÄtaka, in the following form (Wikipedia):
| DÄnaÅ‹ sÄ«laÅ‹ pariccÄgaÅ‹ ÄjjavaÅ‹ maddavaÅ‹ tapaÅ‹
akkodaÅ‹ avihimsa±ca khanti±ca avirodhanaÅ‹ |
I have summarized Gunaseela Vithanage’s translation [including my explanations] as follows
- Dana (charity) means giving of alms to the needy. In modern terms, the ruler must alleviate the level of poverty of his subjects. [Exclude the lavish tamashas for cronies and contacts as part of this virtue.]
- Sila (morality) means the adherence to and promotion of the ethical/moral dimension of the magga: Right action, right speech, and right livelihood. [Exclude luxury cars, promotion of gambling, redundant overseas travel, huge commissions from state contracts, etc., from this virtue.]
- Pariccaga (munificence) means generosity toward those who loyally serve the ruler thereby spurring them to keep up their dedicated work. [Exclude the monetary and other perks offered to turncoats, including journalists, and their ilk from this virtue.]
- Ajjavan (straightforwardness) means that the ruler must show consistency of his action with his word. He must never take recourse to any crooked or doubtful means to achieve his ends. [What is the reason behind the abolition of term limits for the executive president and for the disappearance of several journalists, among other things?]
- Majjavan (gentleness) means that the ruler must temper his straightforwardness, which often requires firmness, with gentleness. He must develop a harmonious balance between firmness and gentleness. [What has the ruler done to establish that he doesn’t exceed his power to impose penalties incommensurate with someone’s wrong action?]
- Tapan (restraint) means the ruler must keep his five senses under strict control, shunning indulgence in sensual pleasures. [People who cannot control their craving for sensual desires and clinging on to excessive indulgence should not aspire to be rulers or the Mahasammata.]
- Akkodha (non-hatred) means that the ruler must not harbor grievances against those who injured him, but must act with forbearance and love. [Take into account the different treatments accorded to Sarath Fonseka and Shirani Bandaranaike vis- -vis K. P. and Karuna.]
- Avihimsa (non-violence) in the present context means that the ruler must adhere to the first precept””a pledge to refrain from harming living creatures. Unless his adversaries force him into war as a last resort, he ought to prefer negotiation and reconciliation rather than confrontation. [This virtue is common to both Hinduism and Buddhism. Yet both our Sinhala and Tamil leaders seem to pay scant attention to it because they can’t simply get over their lobha (lust), moha (ignorance) and dosa (aversion) and other mental defilements.]
- Khanti (patience) means the ruler must conduct himself with patience, courage and fortitude on all occasions. He must conduct himself with calmness and dignity without giving in to emotions. [This virtue includes the ability to face abuse and criticism from all disgruntled constituencies and agents ranging from Western diplomats to unctuous hypocrites of the TNA who want to create a separate Eelam, which will merely fester Tamil-Sinhala acrimony for centuries to come.]
- Avirodhata (non-enmity, friendship) means the ruler must cultivate the spirit of amity among his subjects, and convey that spirit by both word and deed. He should avoid resorting to bheda””the divide and rule policy in the Hindu statecraft. [This virtue includes the ability of the ruler to restore communal harmony in our nation despite all the seemingly insurmountable roadblocks placed by religionized Buddhists who have no clue about the meaning of anatta (no self).]
Shyamon Jayasinghe wrote an essay on the contemporary relevance of the dasa raja dharma that appeared in Sannasa (October 2011), a monthly magazine published in Melbourne by the Sri Lankan community. A self-proclaimed materialist atheist, Jayasinghe found two of the criteria to be inapplicable today””Dana and Pariccaga.
Jayasinghe de-emphasized the importance of Dana when he wrote: “Rulers are politicians today, and they don’t get into politics to give away what they have for the love of the country. Our rulers prefer to utilize public office for private gain and they wouldn’t have any guilt in having a go at taxpayer funds or in ensconcing their kith and kin to public offices or in interfering with tender procedure. This is why they are averse to checks on their power. The FR, AR, and Establishment Code are creations of Western imperialism.”
Commenting on Pariccaga, Jayasinghe wrote, “Not realistic as no saints take up politics. Gandhi may have adhered somewhat to this but Gandhi was no politician. Our politicians may describe him as a lunatic.”
All Buddhists are atheists in the sense that they don’t believe in a supreme God except for religionized Buddhists who worship the Hindu deity. Buddhism is a phenomenology based on the Four Noble Truths. Jayasinghe cannot pick and choose from the 10 virtues to suit his convenience because they are already embedded in the Four Noble Truths. Those who feel that Buddhism is “not pragmatic enough” could still perform a service by joining the so-called “engaged Buddhism” group.
One does not have to be a Buddhist to use the dasa raja dharma criteria as norms to judge the performance of our rulers. They should be acceptable to most human beings except for a scattering of various cultists and self-centered egotists.
[*Dr. Gunaratne, a professor of communication emeritus, currently lives in the United States. He is the author of The Dao of the Press: A Humanocentric Theory published in 2005.]
March 16th, 2014 at 3:02 pm
I believe DRD is not something that the Buddha said. If Dr. Gunaratne could tell me the storey leading to it ( that is when and why Buddha said this ) my sincere apology to him. He may tell us under which Nikaya, what chapter etc.
If it is not said by Buddha directly ( from Thripitikas) , one must approach it with caution.
Thus the statement “Jayasinghe cannot pick and choose from the 10 virtues to suit his convenience because they are already embedded in the Four Noble Truths.” is not true.
Nevertheless I agree with the statement that “One does not have to be a Buddhist to use the dasa raja dharma criteria as norms to judge the performance of our rulers. They should be acceptable to most human beings except for a scattering of various cultists and self-centered egotists.”
Dasa Raja Dharma could have been expounded by an Buddhist Arahant or a even by person who attained higher Jhanas ( could be a non- Buddhist ), and I find it very appropriate to apply to a KING of the past.
Present time, however, it should be applied with caution.
If you look at Indian flag, it shows something like a Dhamma Chakka ( Indian version of Dhamma Chakka with ten sides) which represent Das Raja Dharma. Our Dhamma Chakka is entirely different, it represents Noble Eightfold Path.
March 16th, 2014 at 6:12 pm
Sorry, Indian flag represent Ashok Chakra ( Ashoka’s version of Dhamma Chakka) does not contain ten sides.
It represents 24 principles as interpreted by India, is called the Laws of Dharma which I mistook for DRJ.
March 16th, 2014 at 7:40 pm
Message from S. Gunaratne to Nanda:
The citation for dasa raja dharma is Jataka, I, 260, 399, II, 400.
Ananda Guruge in his book “Buddhist Answers to Contemporary Questions” (2005) says that there are frequent references to dasa raja dharma in later Buddhist literature in Pali.
In my view, all 10 virtues are consistent with the Five Aggregates Analysis, Dependent Origination Doctrine and the ti-lakkhana concept embedded in the Four Noble Truths. That’s why I said you cannot pick and choose.
March 16th, 2014 at 8:02 pm
Chimese emperor dynasties had used Dasa Raja dharma to govern the kingdom.
When something drastic happened they always asked questions related to dasa raja dharma.
March 17th, 2014 at 2:00 am
TNA and LTTE cannot be ruled by DRD, even though DRD are excellent human qualities a leader should process.
“People who cannot control their craving for sensual desires and clinging on to excessive indulgence should not aspire to be rulers ” -very true but modern day western “DEMOCRAZY” demand more craving. MR can never satisfy this qualifications let alone TNA and LTTE.
Therefore, asking Sampanthan to adhere to DRD is a totally waste of time.
IF MT followed it , he cannot survive.
March 17th, 2014 at 3:25 am
My Indian myna says “Sannasa” the so called Si Lankan community paper is ? What ever it is there are Sinhala politicians who have given their property to Sinhala masses. Sir John Kotalawala is one of them.
March 18th, 2014 at 12:28 pm
Buddhism, I believe, is an ethical- religious, social philosophy and as such it must be harmonized with the system of government. How do we do this is the question now debated.
In approaching this aspect of “Harmonization of the Buddha’s Way Of Life With The Functions Of The State”, I found an interesting graphical presentation given in the book “Revolt In The Temple” published by Sinha Publications in commemoration of 2500 Buddha Jayanthi. It states as follows:
First: THE BUDDHA’S WAY OF LIFE:
(1) ANNIHILATION OF GREED (2) EXTINCTION OF HATRED (3) LIQUIDATION OF IGNORANCE
(Lobha) (Dosa) (Moha)
BY BY BY
______________________________________________________________________________________
FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE
______________________________________________________________________________________
(1) PROTECTION OF THE (2) JUSTICE (3) EDUCATION OF THE
CITIZENS CHILDREN
From External Aggression and + Organized to give Equality of
Opportunity
Internal Strife +
Directed to Cultivate
From External or Internal + Commonsense
Exploitation
+
In The Legal System
In The Distribution of Wealth
In The Provision of Social Services.
The above formula could be made use of to embrace all that is in Dasa Rajah Dharma and to be compatible with Buddhist Philosophy.
March 18th, 2014 at 12:55 pm
In my presentation, I made a “booboo”. Please bear with me. I will put it again:-
THE BUDDHA’S WAY OF LIFE: (1) ANNIHILATION OF GREED (Lobha)
(2) EXTINCTION OF HATRED(Dosa)
(3) LIQUIDATION OF IGNORANCE ((Moha)
FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE: (1) PROTECTION OF THE CITIZENS (Arising from Lobha)
(2) JUSTICE (Arising from Dosa)
(3) EDUCATION OF THE CHILDREN(Arising from Moha)
In the function of: PROTECTION OF CITIZENS, it is to PROTECT FROM EXTERNAL AGGRESSION and
PROTECT FROM EXTERNAL or INTERNAL
EXPLOITATION
In the function of : JUSTICE, it is , IN THE LEGAL SPHERE
IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH
IN THE PROVISION OF SOCIAL SERVICES
In the function of: EDUCATION, it is, ORGANIZED TO GIVE EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
DIRECTED TO CULTIVATE COMMONSENSE