I read 'Chanakya's Chant' a fiction novel by Ashwin Sanghi. There was a
question posed by one of the character, which i tried to answer myself
- to my utmost satisfaction.
The Question - Explain whether chanakya's treatise on political economy, the arthashastra was his own work or whether it was simply an aggregation of previously-held views ?
My Answer - The arthashastra was merely a compendium of all previous arthashastras.
It contained all of the political philosophy prevalent at that time. However, all of it was
only transmitted orally by the brahmin teachers, whom the king hired to teach their
princes, the art of statecraft.
A few leafs or treatises were written before the arthashastra, but were largely scattered.
Despite being a vast compendium of all schools of thought related to subjects ranging
from accountancy, justice and law to discipline, wages, division of labour and forming
alliances; the author has also given his own views and at times, followed a balanced
opinion when two or more views conflicted. But this does not dims the genius of
Kautilya in any way. He was a practical philosopher, he conquered before he gave
his testimony. He was the one who first thought out the concept of a nation, called
'Aryavartha', before india even existed.
He organized the work of arthashastra to benefit the king, Chandragupta Maurya and
also his future successors. It has been said that Chhatrapati Shivaji read the arthashastra
before conquering the moghuls and forming the maratha empire. About Kautilya's personal
life, it is known that he sought revenge by setting Chandragupta Maurya on the throne of
the Magadha Empire. Hence, he was a king-maker in its true sense and did not desire
anything for himself even after having played an all-important role in capturing the vast
kingdom by mentoring Chandragupta Maurya, without which history would have been
wildly different. In truth reality itself, is the ultimate philosopher.
The ultimate waste of the world, are those dreams of humanity which will never come
true. Ultimately, all of it all just boils down to the game of sharpest perception of reality,
the one who has it and applies it rather than babbling about it to the world, wins it.
He/She can truly make the world bend to their will.
A N U J C H U G H
question posed by one of the character, which i tried to answer myself
- to my utmost satisfaction.
The Question - Explain whether chanakya's treatise on political economy, the arthashastra was his own work or whether it was simply an aggregation of previously-held views ?
My Answer - The arthashastra was merely a compendium of all previous arthashastras.
It contained all of the political philosophy prevalent at that time. However, all of it was
only transmitted orally by the brahmin teachers, whom the king hired to teach their
princes, the art of statecraft.
A few leafs or treatises were written before the arthashastra, but were largely scattered.
Despite being a vast compendium of all schools of thought related to subjects ranging
from accountancy, justice and law to discipline, wages, division of labour and forming
alliances; the author has also given his own views and at times, followed a balanced
opinion when two or more views conflicted. But this does not dims the genius of
Kautilya in any way. He was a practical philosopher, he conquered before he gave
his testimony. He was the one who first thought out the concept of a nation, called
'Aryavartha', before india even existed.
He organized the work of arthashastra to benefit the king, Chandragupta Maurya and
also his future successors. It has been said that Chhatrapati Shivaji read the arthashastra
before conquering the moghuls and forming the maratha empire. About Kautilya's personal
life, it is known that he sought revenge by setting Chandragupta Maurya on the throne of
the Magadha Empire. Hence, he was a king-maker in its true sense and did not desire
anything for himself even after having played an all-important role in capturing the vast
kingdom by mentoring Chandragupta Maurya, without which history would have been
wildly different. In truth reality itself, is the ultimate philosopher.
The ultimate waste of the world, are those dreams of humanity which will never come
true. Ultimately, all of it all just boils down to the game of sharpest perception of reality,
the one who has it and applies it rather than babbling about it to the world, wins it.
He/She can truly make the world bend to their will.
A N U J C H U G H
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