<em>Rājadharma</em> and Good Governance in Early Buddhism

Despite certain attempts to see Buddhism as a life-denying philosophy by modern scholars, there is a strong tendency to present teachings conducive to progress of socio-political sphere in the Pali canon. Essentially, Buddhism accepts the role of political leadership as critical in determining the quality of life condition of the public in a country. In order to assure the contribution of a ruler to the ruled, Buddhism produces ethical guidance. According to experts of Buddhist history, at the time of the Buddha, there were two forms of governing systems in India, monarchical system and republics (gaṇa). For the monarchs, the Buddha had presented ethical principles under several headings and for the republics, it is mentioned, seven non- degenerative dhammas (satta aparihāniya dhammā) were approved. Among the teachings presented for kings, the teaching of ten royal duties is outstanding (dasa-rāja dhamma). In the present study, it is planned to examine how these two sets of rājadhammas are conducive to good governance. By analyzing the textual data related to the two selected rājadhammas, it will reach the conclusion that Buddhism demands virtuosity of the ruler and the rule based on virtuosity is a necessary condition to maintain a country with law and order. This study is carried out based on the Pali texts belonging to the Pali canon and its commentaries.