Before anarchism was a political movement, it was a spiritual age. A world without kings, laws, or coercion, imagined in ancient India.
A time with no kings, no laws, no state. The ultimate anarchist utopia. It wasn't dreamt up in 19th-century Europe. Its story begins in ancient India.
Feeling trapped? Endless rules, constant pressure, a system that feels rigged. What if the desire for true freedom isn't a modern rebellion, but an ancient memory?
Ancient Hindu cosmology speaks of Satya Yuga, the first and most perfect of four ages. It was a 'Golden Age' of truth, where humanity lived in a state of pure consciousness.
The most radical idea about Satya Yuga? The complete absence of a ruling structure. No state, no king, no police, no laws.
The Mahabharata, composed roughly around 400 BCE, describes this age in its Shanti Parva section.
'There was no state, no king, no penalty, and no punisher. All men used to protect one another, prompted by Righteousness (Dharma) alone.' - Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, 59.14
'All men used to protect one another...' This is the principle of Mutual Aid, a cornerstone of anarchist thought. Society thrived not on competition, but on voluntary cooperation.
How did it work without chaos? The guiding force was 'Dharma'. Not just religion, but an innate, universal principle of righteousness, duty, and cosmic harmony.
People were governed by their own conscience. They acted righteously not from fear of punishment, but because it was their intrinsic nature. This is the anarchist ideal of autonomy.
Anarchism seeks to abolish coercive, unjust hierarchy. In Satya Yuga, Dharma was the great equalizer, making external rulers and their power structures completely obsolete.
The Vishnu Purana describes the earth in Satya Yuga as yielding treasures and food without labor. People were content, free from greed and sorrow.
No need for private property or hoarding when abundance is the norm. This mirrors anarchist-communist ideas of a post-scarcity society, where resources are freely available to all.
The texts say it was a spiritual decline. As ages passed, greed, selfishness, and desire ('Adharma') began to cloud human consciousness.
As people lost their inner moral compass, they sought an external one. To protect property and curb violence, they created laws and appointed a king.
In this philosophy, the state wasn't a divine gift, but a tragic necessity. It was a 'danda' (a stick for punishment), born from humanity's fall from grace.
Historian A.L. Basham, in 'The Wonder That Was India', notes this theory implies the state is a product of human degeneration, not progress. A radically different view from Western political thought.
Western anarchism aims to tear down the nation state to achieve freedom. This ancient philosophy suggests true freedom is internal, and its loss created the nation state.
This idea deeply influenced Mahatma Gandhi. His concept of 'Swaraj' (self-rule) was not just about political independence, but about individuals becoming morally self-sufficient.
'In such a state, everyone is his own ruler... There is no political power because there is no state.' - M.K. Gandhi, describing his ideal society in 'Young India', 1931.
Maybe a just world doesn't need more laws, surveillance, or control. Maybe it needs more 'Dharma'—more individual integrity, empathy, and responsibility.
So, the next time you hear 'anarchy,' remember its echo in the hymns of ancient India. A dream not of chaos, but of a world so righteous it needed no rules.
What if the path to a better world isn't just about changing the system outside, but also about awakening the Dharma within?