It is a commonplace of scholarship that the Buddha himself is credited with the recommendation that the community of bhikkhus organize and conduct their affairs in a fashion that is the very antithesis of the procedures of a centralized polity. In the Maha Parinibbana Suttanta the Buddha recommends that the bhikkhus conduct their affairs in the Vajjian style (which certain scholars label as the “republican” model as opposed to the “monarchical”): “So long, O mendicants, as the brethren foregather oft, and frequent the formal meetings of their Order – so long as they meet in concord, and rise in concord, and carry out in concord the duties of the Order. … so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.”

Further along in this famous discourse occurs the much quoted admonition to Ananda that the continuance of the brotherhood does not depend upon a leader: “Therefore, O Ananda, be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge to yourselves. … Look not for refuge to any one besides yourselves. …”

We have already (Chapter 5) cautioned against a simplistic assimilation of the Vajjian political style to a republican model, although the Buddha's alleged advice on how the sangha should conduct its affairs is a meaningful contrast with the conventions of kingly rule.