Adharma Begins in the Luxurious State
Table of Contents
Our state is now matured and perfected. Where then is dharma and adharma? In what part of the State did they spring up?
Probably in the dealings of these citizens with one another. I cannot imagine that they are more likely to be found any where else.
Correct. What will be their way of life? They will produce corn, wine, clothes, shoes, and build houses for themselves.
When they are housed, they will work, in summer, commonly, stripped and barefoot, but in winter substantially clothed and sheltered.
They will feed on barley-meal and flour of wheat, baking and kneading them, making noble cakes and loaves. These they will serve up on a mat of reeds or on clean leaves, themselves reclining the while upon beds strewn with yew or myrtle.
They and their children will feast, drinking of the wine which they have made, wearing garlands on their heads, and hymning the praises of the gods, in happy converse with one another.
They will take care that their families do not exceed their means, having an eye to poverty or war.
But you have not given them a relish to their meal.
Of course they must have a relish—salt, and olives, and cheese. They will boil roots and herbs such as prepared by country people. They shall have figs, and peas, and beans for dessert. They will roast myrtle-berries and acorns at the fire, drinking in moderation.
With such a diet, they may be expected to:
- live in peace and health to a good old age, and
- bequeath a similar life to their children after them.
People should be given the ordinary conveniences of life. People who are to be comfortable are accustomed to lie on sofas, dine off tables, and have sauces and sweets in the modern style.
How is a luxurious State created? There is no harm in this.
In a luxurious State, we can see better how dharma and adharma originate. Many will not be satisfied with the simpler way of life. They will be for adding sofas, tables, perfumes, incense, courtesans, and cakes in every variety.
We must go beyond the necessaries such as houses, clothes, and shoes. The arts of the painter and the embroiderer will have to be set in motion. Gold and ivory and all sorts of materials must be procured. We must then enlarge our borders, because the original healthy State is not enough.
[Adharma begins in the luxurious State when] many will not be satisfied with the simpler way of life.
The city will have to fill and swell with many callings which are not required by any natural want, such as:
- actors who have to work with forms and colours,
- the devotees of music,
- These are poets and their attendant train of rhapsodists, players, dancers, and contractors. These make diverse kinds of articles, including women’s dresses.
- servants, tutors, nurses wet and dry, tirewomen and barbers, physicians, as well as confectioners and cooks, and swineherds.
- They were not needed before in the former version of our State.
- animals of many other kinds for food.
The country is now too small. A slice of our neighbours’ land will be wanted by us for pasture and tillage. They will want a slice of ours if, like ourselves, they exceed the limit of necessity and allow the unlimited accumulation of wealth. Then we shall go to war with them. Thus, war comes from causes which are also the causes of almost all the evils in States, private as well as public. Our State enlarges.
Thus, war comes from causes which are also the causes of almost all the evils in States.
Division of Labor Creates Highly Skilled Experts
This time, the enlargement will be a whole army which will have to go out and fight the invaders to defend all that we have. One man cannot practise many arts with success. But war is an art, which needs as much attention as shoemaking.
We did not allow the shoemaker to be a husbandman, a weaver, or a builder so that that our shoes would be well made. We assigned one work to each one that naturally fits him and made him focus only on that work all his life. He would be a good worker if he did not let opportunities slip.
It is most important that the work of a soldier should be well done. But the art of war is not so easily acquired. A man cannot both be a warrior and a husbandman, shoemaker, or other artisan. A man who had devoted his earliest years to training and nothing else will be superior to one who only trains for recreation.
Tools are useful only if men have learned to use them. How then will he who takes up a weapon become a good fighter in one day? The higher the duties of the guardian, the more time, skill, art, and application will be needed by him.
He also requires natural aptitude for his calling. Then it will be our duty to select the natures fitted for the task of guarding the city. The selection will be not easy.
But we must be brave and do our best.