19.
And for this I need power. All power should be concentrated in one
hand. Thez whole world should come under my control.
"Self-rule" is my rule. To obey me is freedom. In this way
culture, power and wealth - these three are encouraged by the asurik
temperament.
20. There was a time when the brahmins
ruled society. They made the shastras and the codes of law;
kings bowed before them. The age passed and gave place to the age of
the kshatriyas. Their horses roamed free over their empire,
and they went in triumphal progress in all four directions. And this
kshatriya culture too went as it came. The brahmin
said, "I am the giver of knowledge, the others are takers. Who
but me can be the guru, the teacher?" The brahmins were
proud of their culture.
The kshatriyas set store by
power, saying "I killed this man today, I shall kill some other
man tomorrow." Then came the age of the vaishyas.
"Hit the back if you like, but not the belly" - this is
the whole philosophy of the vaishya. His heart is in his
stomach. "The wealth is mine, and that, too shall become
mine," - this is his prayer, this is his resolve. Do not the
English tell us, "If you want swaraj, take it.
But give us the right and facilities
to sell our manufactured goods here. Then by all means preserve your
culture. Keep your lion-cloth and sit there with your culture."
The wars of today are all waged for the sake for trade. This age too
will go; it has already begun to depart. All these are forms of asurik
sampat. |