Kautilya's Arthshastra (Science of Polity)

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Chanakya, also known as Kautilya, wrote the Arthshastra during the period 321-296 B.C. it is a fine compendium of all streams of Arthshastra (the science of national economy). It was penned to guide the kings of the Mauryan empire. The wisdom and suggestion of ancient sages were dutifully compiled by Kautilya to make one single reliable treatise on national economy. This great book was written to help the kings of the mauryan dynasty to manage their economic affairs. It gives strict guidelines for taxation, funds management and expenditure norms. Arthshastra is a treatise devoted to the science of money, earning money and national funds management. For Kautilya, the State (rashtra) was of supreme importance. He would not hesitate to give poison to his enemies for the sake of his country. For him, the achievement of goal was of paramount importance. His sermons (given in Arthshastra) have been practically demonstrated by his actions. He has gone into deep detail. This would enable the posterity to know about the intricacies of national economy.

Kautilya's. Arthashastra is a work of exceptional interest and value. Believed to have been written by Chanakya with the pseudonym 'Kautilya' during the period 321-296 B.C., this is not only a "compendium of all the Arthashastras, which as a guidance to the King in acquiring and maintaining the earth have been written by ancient teachers," as he himself calls it, but a pandect, a code of conduct, the penal code-all rolled into one treatise. As far as Indian way of life is concerned, this 'Arthashastra' is a major work comparable only with the great Mahabharat, and in certain details of the ancient Indian life this even excels the great epic. The Mahabharat also tries to cover the whole range of human emotions by delineating various facts of life through its myriad characters but ultimately emphasises only the positive traits of human personality. But Kautilya goes even farther than that. He emphasises the need for the negative traits in equal measure. He does not mince words when he recommends administration of poison in "good faith". To Kautilya, achievement of an aim is of paramount importance. If one has to get rid of one's enemy, no holds are barred. What Lord Krishna says in the 'Gita' has been practically demonstrated by Kautilya with much more details and down to earth measures. This aspect psychologically confirms the occurrence of an event, believed to be apocryphal, in his own life when stung by a thorn, he put whey in the root of that thorn-bushes to efface their existence from the earth. That was his personality, devoid of any flimsy sentimentality. He emerges as an iron-man, full of schemes and tricks, merciless in his precepts and unrelenting to any emotion-so much so, that Bana, the author of Kaadambari is believed to have opined "...the science of Kautilya...rich in cruelty, is an authority; whose priests habitually hard- hearted with practice of witchcraft; to whom ministers, always inclined to deceive others are councillors; whose desire is always for the goddess of wealth that has been cast away by thousands of kings; who are devoted to the application of destructive sciences; and to whom brothers, affectionate with natural cordial love, are fit victims to be murdered"!.