Unfortunately, the greatness of kautilya remains unappreciated for want of a modern translation. Kautilyas arthashastra is an excellent treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy. Shamasastry, 1915 book i, concerning discipline book ii,the duties of government superintendents book iii, concerning law book iv, the removal of thorns book v, the conduct of courtiers book vi, the source of sovereign states. The book was discovered by shamasastri in 1909 who also translated and introduced it to the public. Arthasastra is an ancient indian sanskrit treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy. Buy arthashastra book online at low prices in india. The author of arthashastra was a contemporary answers. That seems to be a very sensibly translated version. Chanakya arthashastra pdf in hindi, english, sanskrit. Is this book a good to read for being involved into corporate world. The final volume is a scholarly discussion on the text and the debate and controversies regarding the. Authorship is ascribed to kautilya fourth century b. The arthashastra is a comprehensive treatise on statecraft and public administration.
Kautilya arthashastra chanakya arthashastra indian. The book is a masterwork which includes an array of topics like statecraft, politics, strategy, selection and training of employees, leadership skills, legal systems, accounting systems, taxation, fiscal policies, civil rules, internal and foreign trade etc. Kautilya, the destroyer of nanda kingdom is the author of arthashastra. The arthashastra is an ancient indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military trategy authored by chanakya 350283 bce. He is considered the author of the arthashastra, meaning a texts on wealth. The arthashastra is the title of a handbook for running an empire, written by kautilya. The arthashastra of kautilya is one of the most impressive books that i have read in the recent years. Arthashastra is an excellent treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy. The arthashastra a treatise on statecraft and military. The science of material gain singularly important indian manual on the art of politics, attributed to kautilya also known as chanakya, who reportedly was chief minister to the emperor chandragupta c. He has translated kautilyas arthashastra and is also the author of the book commodity conflict. Duties of the king war and peacesecurity of the state and the system of spies.
This book is one of the most effective books ever written on the art of statecraft and the science of everyday living. Which is the best english translation of kautilyas. The first volume is an authoritative compilation in sanskrit of kautilyas arthashastra from a number of manuscripts and fragments. An extraordinary detailed manual on statecraft and the science of living by one of classical indias greatest minds. Arthashastra in sanskrit, literally the science of benefit, of practical life, an ancient indian treatise, a collection of precepts on government. It was already embedded in kautilyas arthashastra, but was probably not noticed or highlighted due to an incomplete and partial understanding of the concepts in the text.
The book is divided into 15 books each detailing different situations and different descriptions and solutions. This book was lost for many centuries until a copy of it, written on palm leaves, was rediscovered in india in 1904 ce. The author of the book arthashastra is answers with. Chanakya, also known as kautilya or vishnugupta, was an adviser and a prime minister to the first maurya emperor chandragupta, and architect of his rise to power. Kautilyas work is primarily a book of political realism where state is paramount and king shall carry out duties as advised in his book to. The arthashastra is an ancient indian treatise on statecraft, econ. Likely to be the work of several authors over centuries, kautilya, also identified as vishnugupta and chanakya, is traditionally credited as the author of the text. This monograph engages with and explores the concepts of dharma and artha in kautilyas arthashastra and also the mahabharata, and provides a few contemporary examples.
In addition to artha, the other purusharthas aims of life are dharma righteousness, kama pleasure and emotional fulfillment and moksha freedom from the lifedeath cycle while artha may be considered a selfish pursuit, in moderation, it is an appropriate aim on the path to moksha as having the financial and material means to live in comfort is a basic necessity to everyday life. The main objective of this translation is to make it as simple and modern as possible, avoiding intricate constructions and. This person was probably the author of the original recension of arthashastra. The title arthashastra is often translated to the science of politics, but the book arthashastra has a broader scope. However, if we carefully examine some of the literature after the second urbanisation emergence of the janapads of the subcontinent we find a lot of material which tells us that ancient indian writers were not devoid of the capability of writing treatises on. Answer this multiple choice objective question and get explanation and result. The authors contentions and arguments about the meaning and significance of.
Arthashastra of chanakya english translation sanskrit. The first chapter of the first book is an ancient table of contents, while the last chapter. The arthashastra advocates the application of reason to statecraft and deals virtually and scientifically with all aspects of governance in a monarchical state. The first great political realist and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. Arthashastra is a pioneering work on statecraft in all its aspects, written at least one thousand five hundred years ago.
Arthashastra advocates rational ethic to the conduct of the affairs of the state. Kautilya was a minister of chandragupta maurya 321 bc 297 bc, an emperor of ancient india. It also differs from machiavelli in its genuine concern for the welfare and economic. Kautilya goes on to explain each of these individual components and. The author of arthashastra was a contemporary which king answer this multiple choice objective question and get explanation and. It includes books on the nature of government, law, civil and criminal court systems, ethics, economics, markets and trade, the methods for screening ministers, diplomacy, theories on war, nature of peace, and the duties.
Selections from the classic indian work on statecraft. After many revisions and additions, the book took its present form about 1800 years before, in the 2nd century the book is divided into fifteen sections. While it is true that is offers views on how a kingruler shall act in order to overcome obstables it is just so much more. The text of this great book includes 15 books, each addressing one topic pertaining to the state and its economy. It is divided into 15 adhikaranas or sections, and 180 prakaranas or chapters. The arthashastra is so much a part of modern indian vocabulary on politics, economics and society that it is hard to imagine that this was a book unknown to the englishspeaking world until an. The arthashastra summarizes the political thoughts of kautilya. This edition is dated to approximately 250 ce, many centuries after the time of kautilya, but the main ideas in this book are largely his. L n rangarajan is a graduate from the university of madras. The science of good governance the arthashastra is the most comprehensive treatise of statecraft of classical times, and perhaps of all time.
The arthashastra is written mainly in prose but also incorporates 380 shlokas, which adds a vital poetic flourish to this otherwise downtoearth classic. It seems that other parts of the book were added for hundreds of years afterward, even after the empire. The arthashastra was a book compiled to educate south asian leaders on statecraftthe practice of running a government. It is very likely that portions of it were written to guide the emperors of the mauryan empire, the first empire to be created in india, in the fourth century bce. What was the popular name of vishnugupta, the author of. The arthashastra is an ancient indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy, written in sanskrit. The arthashastra, published in 2000 by penguin classics is the english edition of the classic treatise on classical economics and political science by the ancient indian philosopher kautilya. How kautilyas arthashastra shaped the telling of ancient. Arthashastra is one of the oldest books with immense historical significance written by kautilya or arya chanakya as he was popularly known. The book is a masterpiece which covers a wide range of topics like statecraft, politics, strategy, selection and training of employees, leadership skills, legal systems, accounting systems, taxation, fiscal policies, civil rules, internal and foreign trade etc. He joined the indian foreign service in 1956 and has been an ambassador to several countries such as greece, sudan, norway, tunisia and iceland. The arthashastra summary the western world generally assumes that ancient indian literature lacked in strategic thinking. Class notes of the session on arthashaastra taken by dr.
Understanding dharma and artha in statecraft through. Next, sometime between 50 and 125 ce, an author, a real historical. Kangle is a reproduction of the original text in sanskrit language primary source. Chanakya 350 275 bce was an indian teacher, philosopher, economist, jurist and royal advisor. Legend has it that he was either a brahmin from kerala or from north india.
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