Page 47 - kpi15431

4 KPI Congress 15 th

which mention the wheel-turning monarch (rãjã cakkavatti), Cakkavattisãhanãda Sutta
is the most preeminent account of the wheel-turning monarch circulating in the
memory of the Buddhist public in South and Southeast Asia. It is debatable whether
a cakkavatti ruler ever existed in this planet as outlined in the Cakkavattisãhanãda
Sutta. It is, nevertheless, a concern whether the conceptualization of the cakkavatti
as an ideal ruler was meant merely as a role model for Buddhist rulers to follow by
living by the precepts and values prescribed in the Buddhist tradition.

The Buddha conceptualized the wheel-turning monarch as a ‘great man’
(mahãpurisa). As an idea, the wheel-turning monarch represents accomplishments as a
ruler and one’s culmination in worldly life. The full-fledged development of the wheel-
turning monarch in the Indian traditions can be seen in the discourses of the Buddha
(Rhys Davids 1991: 53-76). Observing the development of kingship in ancient India,
the Buddha was able to conceptualize and predict an idea of a wheel-turning
monarch. A ruler of such magnitude could not have been conceptualized prior to the
sixth century BCE. This conceptualization is a natural result of the observations of the
gradual development of kingship in India:

The concept of the Wheel-rolling monarch as documented in the Pãli canon was
the natural result of the thinking of an observer of the Buddha’s calibre of gradual
development of the kingship in India till the sixth century B.C. The Buddha infused his
ethical and political values to this ruler to make him the ideal king according to his
teaching (Abeynayake 1995: 53).

The Buddha appears endeavoured to remodel kingship on a new footing devoid
of corruption and cruelty. Ideas that the Buddha rejected in reconceptualization of
kingship include luxurious life-style, acquisitive power, arbitrary punishments and
disregard for the people of the monarchs of his day.

In some ways, the wheel-turning monarch is supposed to address issues related
to poverty, inequality and social problems. The Buddhist theory of kingship as
illustrated in the Pãli suttas such as Aggañña, Cakkavattisãhanãda and Kutadanta
maintains that the king as the ‘great elect’ (mahãsammata) derives legitimacy from
people’s consent. This means a king retains his right to rule only so far as his
International panel discussion people’s right to overthrow a king who is cruel, unjust or incompetent (Jãtaka I.326;
subjects approve his governance. A marginal voice as found in the Jãtakas suggests

III.513-14; VI.156).

Many Buddhist texts, both from Theravãda and Mahãyãna traditions, provide
elaborate accounts. In such descriptions, the wheel-turning monarch is identified as
the just (dhammiko) and righteous ruler (Dhammarãja, D.II.16; D.III.59, 142; Rhys
Davids 1989: 13; Rhys Davids 1991: 60, 137; M.II.134, A.I.109). These accounts
themselves suggest ways of distinguishing a wheel-turning monarch’s governance from
that of other rulers. In the case of the wheel-turning monarch, the key feature is that
his governance is based on righteousness. That means, two important virtues: fairness
and justice are taken into account in the governance.