Abstract:
Buddha as one of the leading religious teachers was well aware of the socio-economic
and political situation of his time. Buddhist discourses have the records of the responses he
made in such situations. Universal monarch (Cakkavatti) who is also called the virtuous king
(dhammiko dhammaraja) reflects one such idea of the Buddha regarding the contemporary
political aspect. This theory of the universal monarch appears in the Cakkavatti Sîhanadasutta
of Dîganikaya. It focuses on the early Buddhist perspective of kingship and the relationship
between the king and his subjects. The mythical king Dalhanemi has been idealized in the sutta
as the dhamma king who rules his kingdom according to the Buddhist law. The question here
is how this concept emerged and why it was included into the Buddhist scriptures. By looking
into the development and changes of the socio-economic and political situation of that particular
period, this paper makes an attempt to investigate the background causes behind the emergence
of the concept and its inclusion into Buddhism.
