Social cycle theory (Sarkar)

Law of Social Cycle, also known as social cycle theory, is a theory of human historical motivity based on "the ancient spiritual ideas of the Vedas." The theory was propounded by the Indian philosopher and spiritual leader Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar in the 1950s and expanded by Ravi Batra since the 1970s,Johan Galtung and Sohail Inayatullah since the 1990s and others.

The theory first appeared in Sarkar's book Human Society, Vol. 2 in the late 1950s and has since been reproduced and expanded on in many books. The theory has probably received the widest publication in the West in the many books of Ravi Batra, a disciple of Sarkar, notably The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism, a New Study of History, The Great Depression of 1990 and The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos. Johan Galtung and Sohail Inayatullah have also written about Sarkars' social cycle theory in the book Macrohistory and Macrohistorians. The theory owes to the work of Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, which was published in 1949 but originally written in 1916-1918 under the title The Psychology of Social Development.

The Law of Social Cycles is a theory of Varna, arising out of the Indian episteme (Inayatullah, 2002). This law states that while people in any society are all relatively similar, they have generally the same goals, desires and ambitions but differ in the way they go about achieving their goals. An individual's specific methods for achieving success depend on his physical and psychological makeup. Essentially, there are four different psychological types of people, warriors, intellectuals, acquisitors and labourers, who find basic fulfillment in four different kinds of ways.

Warriors, or Kshatriya in Sanskrit, have strong bodies, vigorous physical energy and a sharp intellect. Warriors tend to develop the skills that take advantage of their inherent gifts of stamina, courage and vigor. Their mentality is one that is not averse to taking physical risks. Examples of people in our society with the warrior mentality include policemen, firemen, soldiers, professional athletes, skilled carpenters, and tradesmen. They all achieve success through their physical skills and a deep understanding of their profession.

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