Q-328)Explain the Pala dynasty of East India & what was the law of fishes ? Answer- (1)The most important dynasty of East India were the Palas. The founder of this dynasty, Gopala, was not of royal lineage. (2)It is said that he was elected by the people in order to put an end to the general chaos which had prevailed in the country. (3)His son, Dharmapala, stated in an inscription that his father was elected so as to put an end to ‘the state of the fishes’ and he was supposed to ‘touch the hand of fortune’. (4)The ‘Law of the Fishes’ states that the big are devouring the small in a state of anarchy (a-rajaka,i.e. kingless period) is frequently referred to in old Indian writings on the principles of government. (5)The political and philosophical ideas of Hobbes were thus anticipated in India, and if the reports are true then Gopala owed his kingship to the kind of rational contract between the ruler and the ruled which Hobbes had in mind. Gopala’s dynasty rose to great prominence under his two great successors, Dharmapala and Devapala,who intervened with great success in the political affairs of North India. (6)The importance of the Pala dynasty for East India is due to the role which the Palas played in the religious and cultural life of the country. (7)In Bengal Mahayana Buddhism attained its specific Tantric form which was influenced by the cult of the mother goddess who is still predominant there in her manifestation as Kali. Mystical and magical cults also grew in Southeast Asia and in Tibet in this period under royal patronage and the Palas perhaps set this style. (8)The old Buddhist university of Nalanda retained its international reputation under Pala rule and the new Buddhist university of Vikramashila was founded by Dharmapala. (9)Vikramashila mostly attracted Tibetan monks who translated Indian texts into Tibetan there; Nalanda remained the ‘Mecca’ of Buddhist scholars of Southeast Asia. Balaputrathe Shailendra king of Shrivijaya, arranged for the construction of a monastery for monks from his realm at Nalanda around 860, and Dharmapala granted five villages to this monastery in the thirty-ninth year of his reign.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 13:20:56 +0000