[Review] Two Commentaries on the Arthaśāstra: Jayamaṅgalā & Cāṇakyaṭīkā, critically re-edited from Harihara Sastri’s Fascicle Editions, by Andreas Pohlus (Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis 2). (original) (raw)

Revisiting Philosophy of Governance in Kautilya's Arthashastra

The primary functions and consequently goal of all governments since time immemorial has been to govern in the most effective and efficient manner. However, the author believes that it is a pre-condition for human welfare and today has been hailed as ultimate teleos of the decision makers. Kautilya too appropriates a philosophy of governance that fundamentally aims at Yogkhsem of the people to be achieved through Sushashan (Good Governance), able and stable leadership. This paper purports to revisit the ideological and philosophical contributions of Arthashastra and tries to contextualise them with modern challenges, changes and choices in the way we govern or may be do not govern (?) ourselves.

Kautilya's Arthashastra: Art of Governance and Policy Making

National security advisor, Shri Shiv Shankar Men on noted that " study of Kautilya is one of the significant ways in which we can become more self-conscious about the strategic culture in which we can contribute its evolution" The Arthashatra is rich in concepts like, vidsysammudesha; the Mandala theory, Saptanga, Shadgunya, Anvikshiki, which are relevant even today. The Arthashastra needs through investigation and research have application in contemporary situation. There now scholars and experts discussed the relevance of the Arthashastra to contemporary issue of good governance strategy, war and peace, Foreign policy and national security. The Arthashastra is the title of a hand book for running an empire, written by Kautilya (also known as Chanakya, c.350-275BCE) an Indian states man and philosopher, chief advisor and Prime Minister of the Indian Emperor Chandragupta, the first ruler of the Mauryan Empire. The title Arthashastra is a Sanskrit word which is normally translated as The Science of Material Gain, although Science of Politics or Science of Political Economy are other accepted translations for Kautilya's work. The Arthashastra is indeed a master piece of state craft, diplomacy, and strategy and is an example of non-We stern literature that should be read as part of the "realist" canon. Its prescriptions are especially relevant for foreign policy today.

Kautilya's Arthashastra and Governance as an Element of State Power

Strategic Studies, 2008

The Indian subcontinent has long been subjected to invasions and extended periods of warlordism, fragmentation and anarchy. The success of the invading powers has often depended a great deal upon the prevalence of internal dissolution. There is a direct link, for instance, between the collusion of certain Afghan notables, such as the governor of the Punjab, Daulat Khan Lodhi, and the establishment of Mughal imperial rule in the subcontinent in the 1520s. One can also cite the collaboration of the former Mughal nobility in Bengal and the ascendance of the British Empire in India in the 1750s. 1 In each case, the "softness" of the Indian states and their relative lack of internal discipline and order facilitated their eclipse and penetration by imperial agents. 2 The ability of states to maintain order and discipline within their frontiers appears, therefore, to be a critical component of state power. 3 Without order, the ability of the state to raise revenues is compromised, thereby diminishing its capacity to raise effective military forces. A lack of order would also facilitate internal rebellions and enable such acts of defiance to coalesce with the malevolence and ambitions of external rivals.

KAUTILYA VIEWS ON GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION

The presented article has two main objectives first one is to summarise the recommendations given in the Arthshastra on effective governance and secondly to discuss the Kautilian view on the theory and practice of corruption. The concept of governance cannot be completed without acknowledging the contribution of the most celebrated scholar of ancient India, Kautilya. The Kautilya's Arthshastra is the oldest and the most exhaustive treatise on the governance and administration of a state. The traditional view is that the Arthshastra was authored by Kautilya, also known as Chanakya or Vishnugupta. He destroyed the power of Nanda dynasty and place Chandargupta Mourya on the throne of Maghda. Chandragupta is known to have come to the throne 321 BC. This treatise was written I the 4 th century BC. The Arthshastra was first published in 1909 by R. Sharma Shastri. Earlier it was only in extract form in the Puranas and in the works on Dharamshastra, Nitishastra and Dandaniti. Ever since its publication in 1909, the Arthshaatra has been the object of critical study by many distinguished scholar both Indians and foreigners. At present exhaustive literature is available on Kautilya's Arthshastra. Economist, political scientists, sociologists, writers on jurisprudence and ethics, psychologists and historians have given their commentaries on arts and science propounded by Kautilya in Arthshastra .

State and Statecraft in Kautilya's Arthasastra

Kautilya's Arthasastra (4th century B.C.) is one of the most influential treatise in Political Science in the Indian Civilization. This work deals with virtually all aspects of governance in a monarchical state. In the Indian philosophy, the objective of every being is the pursuit of dharma. State, a human artifact, is constituted to get the human race out of the state of nature. State enables the citizens to follow their respective dharma and to enjoy private property rights. King is viewed as a protector of dharma, but not the sole interpreter of it. There is separation between secular and ecclesiastical power. State has many autonomous associations and guilds in its jurisdiction and the ensuing polycentric arrangements checks the rise of absolute power. Arthasastra visualizes a huge bureaucratic structure, a complex tax structure, and an intricate intelligence system.

Theory of Kingship in Suvarnaprabhasottamasutra (Kristi Vol. II. 2009)

Kristi Vol. II. 2009, 2009

The Suvarnaprabhasottamasutra is a Vaipulyasutra. It rehearses, reiterates, celebrates a prerogative moment in the history to coerce the elements to a current consummation. The transformation of the human into the divine king, of the body material into body incorporeal is enacted in the vast limitless theatre of the universe, in which stars, planets, elements are dramatis personnae; in which all nature has been drawn into the domain of ritual; in which the human body is treated as the double of the universe; in which the denatured individual, inserted rather than rooted in nature, reassumes his true nature; in which the eternal cycle, emergence and subsidence of names and forms of the microcosm into the macrocosm provides a theory of human enfrachisement and sovereignty.

A Brief of Kautilya Arthashstra

Public Policy is not new to this land, Kautilya in 315 AD had given his political theory. This paper gives a brief about Kautilya's Artha Shastra.

MILITARY ADAGES AND STRATAGEMS IN KAUTILYA'S ARTHASASTRA

In consideration of the works on the Arthasastra and niti, their value of providing an insight into the ancient Indian military system can hardly be overestimated. It gives us the background of the system and reveals the ideas and principles on which the structure stood. Though primarily concerned with statecraft, the writers of the Arthasastra and niti seldom kept warfare out of their purview. They seem to have believed, like Clausewitz that "war is merely a continuation of policy by other means." 1 It is well-known that of all the texts of this kind which have come down to us, the earliest and the most comprehensive is the Arthasastra of Kautilya. It contains the most complete statement of Mauryan ideas on governance, law and war. The problem of its age and authorship has in recent times aroused much animated discussion. There are some who believe in the hypothesis, first propounded by Shamasastry, that it is a work composed by Chanakya, the minister of Chandragupta Maurya. There are others who contend that this traditional ascription of the Arthasastra to the Mauryan minister is not justified by internal evidence and that the work could not have been composed earlier than the first or second century CE, and it cannot be considered merely the work of a pandit. Be that as it may, it is essentially the work of a practical administrator little interested in political theories. Though formally a shastra, it is unquestionably based on the realities of civil and military administration. 2 In regard to the age of the Arthasastra, even though it was composed before the Christian era, it largely portrays the theories and institutions of an earlier epoch. It is generally recognised that there are remarkable points of resemblance between the administrative and economic system of the Mauryas and that of the Arthasastra. Moreover, Kautilya begins his work with the statement that it is "a compendium of almost all the Arthasastras which have been composed by ancient teachers." 3 He frequently quotes opinions of previous authors and schools.