The Philosopher - King

Kongbrailatpam Rajeshwar Sharma *

Having written his first semester examination, my son, who is pursuing a Master’s degree at one of the prestigious universities in Singapore, came back to Manipur last December. He is an avid reader of books that range from literature to self-improvement books. During his one-month stay at home, he spent the one-month holiday reading a book.

It was none other than "Meditations" which was written by Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor who reigned from 161 AD to 180 AD. As I know little about Greek and Latin literature, I was curious to know about the book which looked so tempting to me. Since my son left for Singapore, I have been reading "Meditations" repeatedly almost three times so far.

The more it is read, the deeper the meanings of his wisdoms are. What is striking about this book is its universal wisdoms that appeal to all. An unknown By- zantine poet composed a poem in praise of "Meditations".

In the first stanza of his poem, he wrote: "If you desire to master pain/Unroll this book and read with care,/And in it find abundantly/A knowledge of the things that are,/Those that have been, and those to come."

The copy of "Meditations" which I have been reading repeatedly is a new translation with an introduction by Gregory Hays, an Associate Professor of classics at the University of Virginia. It was published as Modern Library Paperback Edition in 2003 by Modern Library, New York.

Not only is the book "one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written", it is also a book which is not less than any other scriptures of the world. Marcus Aurelius gives us insights, wisdom, and practical guidance to deal with what one counters everyday in one’s life.

Over the years, "Meditations" has become a guide not only for laymen but also for statesmen and politicians. In other words, "Meditations" is the Mantra to get rid of all the moral malaises that the present day politicians seem to be suffering from.

Marcus Aurelius, who was born in 121 AD, was brought up with utmost care by his adoptive father, Antoninus Pius, after his father had died when he was very young. He was given "the best instruction in poetry and rhetoric" which were "the staples of a liberal education" of his time. But he was more interested in philosophy than in poetry or rhetoric.

Glimpses of his schooling can be seen in Book 1 of "Meditations", where he is said to be instructed by several teachers. In Book 1.5 his first teacher taught him how to be impartial and advised him "Not to support this side or that in chariot-racing, this fighter or that in the games. To put up with discomfort and not make demands. To do my own work, mind my own business, and have no time for slanderers."

Soon after the death of Antoninus Pius on August 31, 161 AD, Marcus Aurelius succeeded the throne at the age of 40. During his reign, he maintained good relations with the Senate. The Parthians were forced to surrender but Parthia remained a threat to the Romans.

No king or ruler has ever more resembled Plato’s philosopher-king than Marcus Aurelius. In him one can find "the ruler who preferred the solitude of the student to the splendor of the palace, the soldier who loved the arts of peace better than the glory of war" which is a rare quality in any of the leaders today.

Moreover Marcus Aurelius is said to have been fond of quoting the dictum of Plato who wrote in "The Republic", "States will never be happy until rulers become philosophers or philosophers become rulers". Many a writer, who wrote about him, could not help but refer to him as the model of Plato’s philosopher-king.

Some of the traits of Marcus Aurelius that we can see in "Meditations" are similar to that of Plato’s philosopher-king’s. He was a seeker of truth and wisdom as much as the philosopher-king was. In order to be in peace, one should always think of doing "unselfish action". In Book 6.7 Marcus Aurelius writes, "To move from one unselfish action to another with God in mind. Only there, delight and stillness."

In search of truth and wisdom, he tries to understand the spirit or power that is within us. In Book 2.13, he writes, "all you have to do is to be attentive to the power inside you and worship it sincerely" He further writes, "What is divine deserves our respect because it is good; what is human deserves our affection because it is like us."

Plato, the Greek philosopher, thought that an ideal state is a perfect society where everyone has a well defined role to play in it and the ideal state should be ruled by a philosopher-king. In the "The Republic", Plato states that the philosopher-king is different from some amateurs who are inexperienced. He has a theoretical as well as practical knowledge about the art of statesmanship.

Not only is the philosopherking a statesman, he is also a symbol of knowledge and sacrifice. But what we see today is only rulers devoid of statesmanship and moral virtues. According to Plato, a ruler should be a selfless person. In other words he should not be selfish, greedy, corrupt and immoral. At the same time he should be truthful, wise and educated.

A philosopher-king of Plato should be virtuous, and a seeker of truth and wisdom. Plato also believed that one of the causes of the turmoil and the sufferings of the people in a state was the absence of rulers who were wise and virtuous. According to Plato, the only remedy to turmoil and sufferings was the rule of knowledge and virtue.

Rather than having Plato’s philosopher-king, people in Manipur have been ruled by those who are educated but "corrupt" and "immoral". "An educated person but immoral is like an unguided missile" said Father Whelan who taught us history at St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling. This is, perhaps, the reason why the people of Manipur have been suffering from the worst form of governance since it merged with India in 1949.

Palm or lotus, they all turn out to be the two faces of a coin. Neither of them is better than the other. Although the people of Manipur are fed up with them, all is not lost, for the people of Manipur still have faith in the Constitution of India and the rule of law. Over and above, they expect to see Plato’s philosopher-king in the Governor.

Under his rule, they also hope that Manipur will soon transform into a state where the people are not divided between hills and valley, majority and minority, and between schedule tribes and general; where people do not suffer from economic-blockades and drone- attacks; where the borders are well protected from immigrants and drug-smu- gglers; and where laws are equally applied to all no matter where they are or whether they are "powerful" politicians or ordinary people.