PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Indian Political Thought
Buddhist thought on Dhamma facilitates the emancipation of political action. Explain.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
er Dhamma = righteousness / justice / moral law → stands above Ana (command) → guided by it, power freed from greed, turned to welfare R2 in Buddhism politics rooted in ethics → command alone not legitimate → Dhamma gives political action its moral direction → hence emancipatory
Body flow
Dhamma superior to state → empowers order + restrains tyranny → force without Dhamma not legitimate → one standard binds king & subject, public & private acts → power becomes responsibility, else Rativijja → emancipation = freedom from greed / domination / caste arrogance / ritual hierarchy / self-interest → worth by conduct not birth → Ambedkar: morality protecting weak from strong → reduces suffering, not domination → no fixed system, only amoral compass → Asoka (welfare / impartial justice / tolerance) → Gandhi (Ahimsa) + Thich Nhat Hanh (mindful action)
Counter-view
risk of politicisation → ethno-nationalist capture of Dhamma → moral ideals hard to fix in secular institutions
Conclusion routes
ek! power must serve welfare → authority morally accountable → political action guided by Dhamma R2 not areturn to moralism, but Dhamma as a moral compass → authority becomes an instrument of moral & social emancipation
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
