Ancient Indian Ethics: Gita, Buddha, Mahavira and the Upanishads

Why Indian thinkers

The syllabus asks for "contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world". Questions often quote a line and ask you to explain its relevance to administration. Ancient Indian thought gives a strong toolkit: duty without attachment, the middle path, non-violence and the many-sidedness of truth. Using these ideas, with one clear link to modern governance, makes an answer stand out.

The Vedic and Upanishadic base

• Rta – in the Rig Veda, the cosmic order that keeps nature and society in balance. Moral life meant living in harmony with rta.
• Dharma – later replaced rta as the central idea. It means duty, righteousness and the law that holds society together. Dharma is context-sensitive: *svadharma* (one's own duty by role) and *sadharana dharma* (common duties for all – truth, non-violence, non-stealing, purity, self-control).
• Purusharthas – four goals of life: dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth and power), kama (desire and pleasure) and moksha (liberation). Artha and kama are legitimate but must be pursued within dharma.
• Karma – every action has consequences; this links moral choice to responsibility.
• Upanishads – stress the unity of all beings (*Atman* is *Brahman*). The Isha Upanishad says "*tena tyaktena bhunjitha, ma gridhah*" – enjoy through renunciation, do not covet. This is a sound principle for anyone handling public resources.

The Bhagavad Gita

The Gita is set on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, where Arjuna faces a classic ethical dilemma: duty to fight a just war versus love for relatives on the other side. Krishna's teaching gives several ideas useful in GS4:

1. Nishkama karma – act without attachment to the fruits: "*karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana*" (2.47) – you have a right to your action, never to its fruits. For an officer this means doing one's duty sincerely without being driven by reward, promotion or fear.
2. Svadharma – perform your own role well; better one's own duty imperfectly done than another's done well (3.35).
3. Sthitaprajna – the person of steady wisdom, calm in success and failure, free from anger and desire. This is close to modern emotional intelligence.
4. Lokasangraha – acting for the welfare and holding together of the world (3.20). Leaders must set an example because "whatever a great person does, others follow" (3.21).
5. Three paths – karma yoga (action), jnana yoga (knowledge) and bhakti yoga (devotion).

Relevance: dedication to public service, neutrality, resilience under pressure and leading by example.

Buddha's ethics

Gautama Buddha (c. 5th century BCE) offered an ethics based on reason and compassion, not ritual.

• Four Noble Truths – there is suffering; it has a cause (craving); it can end; the path to end it is the Eightfold Path.
• Eightfold Path – right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Grouped as prajna (wisdom), sila (ethical conduct) and samadhi (mental discipline).
• Middle Path – avoid extremes of luxury and harsh self-denial.
• Panchsheel for lay followers – refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech and intoxicants.
• Brahmaviharas – four sublime states: maitri (loving-kindness), karuna (compassion), mudita (sympathetic joy) and upekkha (equanimity).

Relevance: right livelihood rules out exploitation; right speech means truthful, kind communication with citizens; the middle path supports balanced policy; compassion toward the weakest. Ashoka's dhamma, inspired by Buddhism, is an early example of ethics in governance – welfare, tolerance, care for animals, and officers (*dhamma mahamattas*) to spread moral conduct.

Mahavira and Jain ethics

Mahavira (c. 599–527 BCE, by tradition) gave Jainism its classical form.

• Five vows (mahavratas) – ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (chastity or self-control) and aparigraha (non-possessiveness).
• Triratna – right faith, right knowledge, right conduct.
• Anekantavada – reality has many sides; no single view captures the whole truth. Linked ideas are syadvada (every statement is true only from some point of view) and the parable of the blind men and the elephant.

Relevance: anekantavada encourages tolerance, listening to all stakeholders and humility in policy-making; aparigraha warns against accumulating wealth through office; ahimsa underpins animal welfare and environmental care.

Comparing the three traditions

Common threads

1. Self-control – of desire, anger and greed; the root of integrity.
2. Duty to others – lokasangraha, karuna and ahimsa all point outward.
3. Inner purity and outer conduct – thought, speech and action must match.
4. Pluralism – the Rig Vedic "*ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti*" (truth is one, the wise call it by many names) fits with anekantavada.

Criticisms to be aware of

• Dharma linked to varna was used to justify caste hierarchy; reformers such as Buddha, the Bhakti saints and Ambedkar rejected birth-based duty.
• Detachment can be misread as indifference to outcomes; modern administrators must also care about results.
• Ancient texts reflect patriarchal norms in places.

A good answer uses the universal values – truth, non-violence, compassion, self-control – while noting these limits.

Using these ideas in answers

• For dedication: Gita 2.47.
• For leadership by example: Gita 3.21.
• For empathy and compassion: brahmaviharas.
• For tolerance and consultation: anekantavada.
• For probity and simplicity: aparigraha, Isha Upanishad.
• For welfare state: Ashoka's dhamma and his rock edicts ("all men are my children").

Applying ancient ideas to a case

Consider a sub-divisional magistrate who must decide whether to demolish an illegal market built by influential traders on a drain, which floods poor colonies every monsoon.

• The Gita reminds her of svadharma: her duty is to uphold law and public safety, whatever the personal cost, and to act without fear of transfer (nishkama karma).
• The Buddha's middle path suggests avoiding both extremes – overnight bulldozing that destroys livelihoods, and endless delay that keeps the floods coming. She can issue notice, offer a relocation site and then act firmly.
• Anekantavada asks her to listen to all sides – traders, residents, municipal engineers – before deciding, and to explain her reasons publicly.
• Ahimsa means using minimum force and treating everyone with dignity, even while enforcing the order.
• Lokasangraha tells her that her conduct will set an example for subordinates.

This shows how ancient ideas can be used as lenses, not as quotations alone. In case-study answers, mention the value, the source in one phrase, and then the concrete step.

Key terms at a glance

• Rna – the three debts: to gods, to sages (learning) and to ancestors; a reminder that we owe duties to those who came before.
• Yama and niyama – in Patanjali's *Yoga Sutras*, the restraints (non-violence, truth, non-stealing, self-control, non-possession) and observances (purity, contentment, discipline, self-study, devotion). The yamas overlap closely with the Jain vows.
• Shila, samadhi, prajna – Buddhist triad of conduct, concentration and wisdom.
• Samyak – "right" or "complete", the prefix in both the Eightfold Path and the Jain triratna.

Comparison with Western ideas

The Gita's duty-centred ethics resembles Kant's deontology – act from duty, not from desire for consequences. The Buddha's compassion and concern with reducing suffering resemble aspects of utilitarianism, while the stress on character and the sthitaprajna resembles Aristotle's virtue ethics. Pointing out such parallels in one sentence shows breadth in Mains answers.

Mains practice question

"You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action." Explain this teaching of the Bhagavad Gita and its relevance for civil servants today. (150 words)

Answer framework

• Context: Arjuna's dilemma; meaning of nishkama karma.
• Relevance: dedication, neutrality, resilience, no fear of transfer or desire for reward.
• Example: officer who acts against illegal mining despite pressure.
• Caveat: detachment from reward, not from outcomes for citizens.
• Conclude with lokasangraha – work for the welfare of all.