Arthashastra: Ancient Indian Economics, Statecraft & Politics

      Artha Shastra comprises of detailed literature on statecraft, economic policies, military strategies, and bureaucratic framework for administering the kingdom and taxation policies for welfare of people. Some people assign the authorship to Kautilya and many other say that Kautilya is same as Chanakya, the scholar of Takshashilla and minister of Chandragupta Maurya. But the kingdom referred in Artha Shastra is much smaller in size than the Maurya Empire had. Many policies perfected by Gupta period get written here. So, it should not be hard to assume that Chanakya was not the composer; his policies and doctrines, however, have been well borrowed and explained in Artha Shastra.

Arthashastra

      Artha Shastra discusses the theory and principles of governing a state in very direct and street-smart ways and keeps out statecraft out of bounds of morality or reasonability. Like it advises the ruler to use any and every means at his disposal to achieve his goal without bothering any morality-attached as a king's action requires no moral sanction. Similarly, it suggests that a ruler should always treat his next-door kingdom as his enemy and should make friendship with his another enemy to keep him in check.

      It talks about realism and not idealism as a tool to manage economics. Therefore it proclaims that:

"Wealth will slip away from that childish man who constantly consults the stars: the only (guiding) star of wealth is wealth itself; what can the stars of the sky do? Man, without wealth, does not get it even after a hundred attempts. Just as elephants are needed to catch elephants, so does wealth capture more wealth."

      The subject matter is approached very directly and practically. For example, it advises the ruler as to what kind of people should be used to spy on the enemy's military; keep close eye on the activities of crown prince lest he falls for bad company or how to keep a close vigil on checking any premature ambition of his sons before they are able to plan anything silly against the king. It considers economics and foreign policy as a zero sum game. It is all about real politics as it says that keeping check on the corruption by people within the government is like "discovering how much water is drunk by the fish in a pond".

      In addition to matters of statecraft, it also comments on social codes like kind of marriages, list of vices (lust, anger, greed, conceit, arrogance and foolhardiness). Many of these concepts reflect the mood of Manu Smriti, especially when it comes to social norms and class systems. But the view point on all such issues also stamped being focused on head of states.

      In the same spirit, Artha Shastra invokes worship of Brihaspaati and Shukra who were earlier non-descript teachers of Gods and Antigods for the subjects of Science and Politics. Before Artha Shastra, the only place having some passing reference to these Gurus also appears is Mahabharata. The very need of such a Shastra was new to Gupta period as the subjects of Politics were never under direct scanner in Indian thoughts before that time.

      Keeping in line with most of the earlier scriptures, Artha Shastra also provides prime of place to Brahmins in all matters relating to administration of states. Brahmin's influence on Indian societies was too strong to ignore as they were considered intellectual and strategic elite of the entire society. Their mere presence in large proportions in matters of state administration was said to provide a good marriage between Dharma and Artha; another preference for realism over idealism. In fact, Artha Shastra advocated extending many exemptions like payment of taxes and access to state resources for elite Brahmins.

      It also carries some references to foreign invasions which happened post-Gupta dynasty only. Some of the policies mentioned have guided successive rulers in past and are relevant even today. Considering all factors, it is safe to assume that it is a compilation of number of earlier texts written by several authors, and in all probability, Chanakya would have been one of the sources as a Professor of Economics at Takshashila.

      But soon after the composition of this Shastra, the configuration of society and kingdoms would have undergone substantial changes rendering the popularity of this Shastra next to nothing. It is because of this reason that Artha Shastra went into long oblivion before it got rediscovered about two hundred years ago. But clearly, some of the points touched upon in this document are relevant for practising real politics even today albeit in much more diplomatic manner.