num_pages: 108
description: Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power is an analysis of cyclical manifestation and more specifically of the relationship between royal and sacerdotal power. In accord with the Hindu doctrine of manvantaras and Plato's depiction of historical degeneration in the Republic Gunon views history here as a series of 'revolts' of lower castes against the higher. The kshatriyas (warriors) revolt against the brahmins (priests) thus setting the stage for a revolt of the vaishyas (loosely the bourgeoisie) as in the French revolution-and finally the shudras (the proletariat) as in the Russian revolution (which Gunon does not touch upon in this work). From one point of view this is a progressive degeneration; from another it is entirely lawful given the 'entropic' nature of manifestation itself. External historical descent reflects an inner knowledge (the celestial paradise) is eclipsed by heroic action (the terrestrial paradise) which is in turn overrun by the inertia and agitation of the passions. Yet the nadir of degeneration is also the point of the dawning of the Heavenly Jerusalem-spiritual Knowledge-which begins a new cycle of manifestation.
language: None
title: Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power
publisher: Sophia Perennis