21 Arthaśāstra

N. Siva Senani

Introduction

The book Arthaśāstra or Kauṭalīya Arthaśāstra is a book dealing with Public Administration, Foreign Affairs and Military Strategies. It is also called Chāṇakyasūtram. Within the book Arthaśāstra, the subject, is referred to as“Daṇḍanīti”.

In the words of the author (1.1.1), the book has two purposes: पृथिव्याःलयभाः पयलनम्च – obtaining a kingdom and ruling it. Arthaśāstra is recognized as one of the eighteen Vidyāsthānas(Viṣṇupurāṇam 3.6.18, 19)

Kauṭalya starts by saying that he is making a compendium of the various Arthaśāstras already established by the earlier Ācāryas; accordingly, throughout the book, the views of other Ācāryas on a given topic are mentioned.

While the book has been composed in the 4th century B. C., it has been “discovered” only in 1905, and published in Sanskrit in 1909 by R. Shamasastry based on a manuscript available in the Oriental Research Institute, Mysore.Later T. Ganapati Sastry published the Arthaśāstra with his own Sanskrit commentary in three volumes, in 1924. While a few English translations and studies followed, the definitive edition of the book was brought out by R. P. Kangle in three volumes in 1960 (the Sanskrit Text), 1963 (English translation), and 1965 (his “Study” on Arthaśāstra). It is now usual to give references from Vol. 1 of Prof. R. P. Kangle’s work.

The book is divided into 15 Adhikaraṇas and each Adhikaraṇa is divided into 150 Adhyāyas. There is also a division of the text into Prakaraṇas, with 180 Prakaraṇas in total. In each Adhyāya / Prakaraṇa, there are Sūtras. Often the Sūtra is a sentence, but sometimes it is in verse form (380 is the number of verses given by Kangle, p5. Vol. 2); sometimes the author quotes some verses. In Kangle’s edition all the verses are given numbers in continuation with the Sūtras. There are nearly 5,370 such Sūtras in the edition of Kangle, though the text itself says that there are 6,000Ślokas (1.1.18). Daṇḍin in Daśakumāracaritamalso mentions that ĀcāryaVishnugupta has a compilation of 6,000 Sūtras on Daṇḍanīti1.

The division of Adhikaraṇas into Adhyāyas is somewhat unusual in Sanskrit literature, where it is more common for a book to be divided into Adhyāyas and then each Adhyāya being divided into Adhikaraṇas. The Mīmāmsāsūtras are one example. The first 96 Adhyāyas deal with administration of the Kingdom; the next 53 Adhyāyas deal with relationships with external kings; and the last one defines and illustrates 32Tantrayuktis, i.e. the means of obtaining knowledge.

The author is Kauṭalya, also known as Chāṇakya or Vishnugupta. Some refer to the author as Kauṭilya, but following T. Ganapati Sastry, the formKauṭalyais used here. Kauṭalya or Chāṇakyais the wise minister who helped Chandragupta Maurya to conquer the Kingdom from Nandas. This is attested to by the text itself:

येनशयस्त्रंच शस्त्रंच नन्दरयजगतय च भ ाः। अमर्षेणोद्धृतयन्ययशुतेनशयस्त्रथमदंकृ तम्॥15.1.73॥

(This Śāstra has been compiled by the one who regenerated the Śāstra, prepared the necessary weapon and rescued the Kingdom lost to Nandas).

The story of Chāṇakya and Chandragupta Maurya is the subject matter of the play Mudrārākṣasamauthored by Viśākhadatta. The name Chāṇakya is also appended to a work on Nīti calledChāṇakyanīti, which occurs in various forms. The main difference between the two works is that whereas the Arthaśāstra is meant for Kings and royal officers, the Nītiśāstram is relevant to the general public as a whole. In the present context, we limit ourselves to the Arthaśāstra.

Mention must also be made of the Tamil book Tirukkuṛaḷ(a book of three parts), whose second part seems to follow the Arthaśāstra very closely, especially in giving the names and functions of the seven Prakṛtis.

2.Contents of the Book 2.1 Overview of the Work.

The first part of the book, consisting of five Adhikaraṇas deals with the five topics of i) Training of the Prince, ii) Administration of the State, iii) Civil litigation procedure and law dealing with civil matters, iv) Criminal law, and v) Miscellaneous matters of State conducted in private. In this there is a fair amount of overlap with works of Dharmaśāstra in (iii) and (iv) above. The matter dealt with in (ii) above is unique to the work, while some matters in (i) and (v) are touched upon by other works, mostly indirectly.

The second part of the book in nine Adhikaraṇa deals with foreign relations and contains the famous Maṇḍala theory of Kauṭalya. This system, described briefly in a later section below, is set out in the first Adhikaraṇa, followed by the six measures of Foreign Policy, known as Ṣāḍguṇya. The next Adhikaraṇa describes calamities to the seven elements, Prakṛtis. Though these concepts are mentioned in other texts like Mahabharata and Dharmaśāstra, Arthaśāstra is the main source of these concepts, as they are discussed at length in one

This occurs in the story of Viśruta in the eight Ucchvāsa, p. 183 of Daśakumāracaritamedited by H. H. Wilson and published in 1846.

place. Four of the next fiveAdhikaraṇasdeal elaborately with war and military strategies. In the midst of this is an Adhikaraṇa dealing with Saṅghas, Principalities. The last Adhikaraṇa in the second part deals with secret rites that are conducted to bring harm to the enemy and those that are used to protect the King and the Prakṛtis from such action.

The fifteenth Adhikaraṇa stands by itself, dealing as it does with the 32 means of obtaining knowledge, called Tantrayuktis. These are very similar to Tantrayuktis mentioned in texts on Āyurveda.

A summary of the contents of the book is given in a tabular form below.

In the following sections some of the contents of the book are presented briefly.

2.2 Training of the Prince

Chāṇakya holds Vedas in the highest regard possible. Some of the Sūtras are given below.

Veda lays down the Dharma of people and is therefore most useful (1.3.4)

Non-violence (Ahiṃsā) towards all, truth (Satyam), purity (Śaucam), non-spitefulness (Anasūya), kindness (Anṛśaṃsyam) and forbearance (Kṣamā) are the Dharmas common to all (1.3.13)

The king shall not allow people to deviate from their duty (Dharma) (1.3.16)

Arthaśāstra deals concerns itself with how morals are to be upheld. In the first Adhikaraṇa, Kauṭalya also introduces “Matsyanyāya”, the “maxim of fish” which alludes to the fact that a big fish will swallow smaller fish, and says that if the rod [of the King] is not used, anarchy (Matsyanyāya) will prevail (1.4.12).

The first Adhikaraṇa has many other interesting aspects as well. There is a chapter (1.6) devoted to the restraint of the sense organs. The method of instruction is very interesting: by giving the stories of various instances where kings like Bhoja, Karāla, Janamejaya, Tālajaṅgha, Aila, Ajābindu, Ravana, Duryodhana, Kārtavīryārjuna andVātāpiwithout control on sense organs lost out. The one with such constraint is called the Rājarṣiand it is kings such as these who form the heroes of works of later poets such as Kalidasa.

Then, a list of desirable qualities of the officers of civil service (Amātyasampat) is described. Kauṭalya prescribed a meritocracy where eligible people are selected to the civil service after due testing (1.8.26). Of special interest is the chapter (1.10) on testing the character of the civil servants. A list of active tests are prescribed with elaborate schemes to make them credible to the person being tested.

Remaining part of the Adhikaraṇa deals at great length the secret service, cabinet meetings, foreign service, protection of princes and the Antaḥpura (the King’s residence and quarters for the Queens). Further detailed advice is offered on the duties of a King (1.19) wherein an ideal time-table for a King is laid down. There, Chāṇakya says (1.19.34)

प्रजयसुखेसुखंरयज्ञाः प्रजयनयंच थितेथितम्। नयत्मथप्रयंथितंरयज्ञाः प्रजयनयंतुथप्रयंथितम्॥

Happiness of the King lies in the happiness of people and his welfare in theirs. That which is dear to him (the King) is not what is beneficial to him; rather that which is dear to the people is beneficial to the King.

2.3 Administration of the State

This is the largest Adhikaraṇa of the book and a detailed account of the same is beyond the present scope. It starts with a chapter on formation of villages with a hundred to five hundred families, followed by a chapter on division of land, with special emphasis on elephants. Then the guidelines for the construction of forts are given, followed by description of roads and various demarcated areas within the fort.

From the fifth chapter, the duties of various Government Officers are discussed, starting with the Sannidhāta, who seems to be the officer in charge of the treasury of the king. Next are described the duties of Samāhartā, the officer in charge of Revenue for the Government. Six sources of revenue are identified: fort, country-side, irrigation works, forests, cattle and trade routes. In the seventh chapter, the duties of the Officer in charge of accounts and record-keeping are described. From this chapter it is clear the Accounts Officers are held responsible for loss of revenue (2.7.11 to 2.7.15) and fined a multiple of the revenue loss caused. The eighth chapter deals with the topic of embezzlement and on recovery of the same. Forty ways of embezzlement are enumerated in 2.8.21. Then, in the ninth chapter the need to check the work of Government Superintendents is stated. Kauṭalya treats embezzlement as something that cannot be avoided like tasting honey on ones tongue (2.9.32), and very difficult to detect, like the drinking of water by a fish (2.9.33).

This recognition informs the extreme caution with which the subject of embezzlement to be treated. The next chapter deals with the drafting of Royal Edicts (Śāsana). In this chapter there are certain observations on words, sentences etc. which show a familiarity with both Nirukta and the grammar of Sanskrit.

In the tenth chapter, the four Upāyas (devices to achieve a goal) of Sāma (conciliation or persuasion), Upapradāna (popular as Dāna, giving gifts etc.), Bheda (creation of doubt and threatening) and Daṇḍa (use of force) are discussed at some length. Of these Sāma and Dāna are also mentioned once again at 9.5.9-11; Dāna is mentioned once more at 9.6.24 in the context of foreign policy. These four Upāyas are very popular with the general public and remain the frame-work within which one tries to obtain one’s object of desire, in that order.

The eleventh chapter deals with examination of gems and fine textiles received into the treasury, describing them, giving their names and places of origin.

Rest of the chapters in the Adhikaraṇa deal with mines goldsmithy trade in gold Superintendent of Granary Supt. of Commerce forest produce armoury weights and measure measurements of space and time Superintendent of Tolls regulation of toll-dues Supt. of Weavers Supt. of Agriculture Supt. of Liquor slaughter house courtesans shipping Supt. of chariots etc. cattle Supt. of Passports horse administration of country-side elephants commissioner of City training of elephants

In the last two chapters, we see that taking a census is recommended; what is also visible is the seed of the Revenue system still followed in India, with its Record of Rights, Harvest Register etc.

In many trades and practices, there is continuity seen over two thousand years. This is the first text on Administration of State and is invaluable to the students of India’s history, especially of its administration system.

2.4 The Maṇḍala Theory

In the Sixth Adhikaraṇa, after discussing the elements of State (the seven Prakṛtis), the Maṇḍala Theory is taken up. The basis of this theory is that a King should always look to expand. This is not specifically stated in the Arthaśāstra but we can get the idea from contemporaneous literature. A popular verse from Chāṇakyanītiis quoted2 as having the following hemistich:

असन्तुष्टयथिजय नष्टयाः सन्तुष्टयश्चमिीभुजाः।

(Brahmins who are not contended are destroyed; so are Kings who are contended).

Since a King is never to be contended, he should always expand when an opportunity presents itself. Then the immediate targets would be the neighbouring kings, who are termed as enemies; their neighbours would be allies; beyond them the allies of the enemy; beyond them allies of the allies; beyond them the allies of the allies of enemy and so on (6.2.14, 15, 18).This can be pictorially represented as shown below. In the below diagram, the would-be-conqueror is the Vijigīṣu, shown in grey; enemies are shown in red; allies in blue; and neutral parties in orange. Though Kauṭalya does not explicitly talk of neutral Kingdoms, Prof.Kangle’s opines that not all neighbours are to be treated as enemies.

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Bibliography

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