{"id":38340,"date":"2024-09-11T20:21:10","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T03:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38340"},"modified":"2024-09-12T09:46:56","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T16:46:56","slug":"arthashastra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/arthashastra\/","title":{"rendered":"Arthashastra"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Have you ever heard of Arthashastra<\/em>? I hadn\u2019t until this week\u2019s assignment. Led by my curiosity about what 300+ year old books on leadership might exist in Asia, I was delighted to find an ancient book from the sub-continent of India that predates much of what is considered classical treatises on leadership and statecraft from European and western perspectives. Arthashastra<\/em> was written more than 2000 years ago, around 300 BCE.[1]<\/a> Along with author, Kautilya, it was particularly influential during the time of the Mauryan Empire and its expansion.<\/p>\n

Discovery and Significance<\/p>\n

Arthashastra<\/em> was discovered by R. Shamasastry in 1905 CE who then published the work in 1909 and translated it into English in 1915. The treatise was considered lost after the 12th<\/sup> century. However, its existence was known through references to it. The Arthashastra<\/em> is recognized as one of the most important works on statecraft.[2]<\/a> This ancient work remains popular in India and a source of national pride. It\u2019s studied in universities and valued for its practical application in the modern world.<\/p>\n

Arthashastra<\/em> is frequently compared to Niccolo Machiavelli\u2019s The Prince, <\/em>published in 1532. However, Kautilya\u2019s treatise is much more comprehensive. His instructions on war, dealing with enemies, and espionage are particularly troubling and specific. Beyond its age another striking difference is the book\u2019s length. The English translation is 494 pages long! By contrast, The Prince<\/em> is 99 pages. The Arthashastra<\/em> is a meticulous guide describing in great detail how a king should rule his kingdom, with the chief aim to instruct the king in practical matters.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Authorship<\/p>\n

Arthashastra<\/em> is attributed to Kautilya, also known as Chanakya and Vishnagupta. Kautilya was\u00a0 born into a Brahmin family sometime during the Nanda dynasty during the 4th<\/sup> Century BCE. He was a philosopher, political strategist, and royal advisor. According to legend, he was humiliated in the courts of King Dhanananda the ruler of Magadha and sought revenge. Under Kautilya\u2019s counsel, Chandragupta Maurya destroyed the Nanda dynasty, became ruler of the Magadha kingdom, and founder of the Mauryan Empire which united the Indian sub-continent. Kautilya became advisor to Chandragupta and his son Bindusara, the second emperor of the Mauryan Empire and father of Ashoka the Great.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Authorship is debated in terms of the three names associated with Kautilya. Many scholars validate the claim that they are one and the same person, while others consider three separate authors plausible.[5]<\/a> It is thought that others contributed to composing, expanding, and redacting the treatise between the 2nd<\/sup> century BCE and 3rd<\/sup> century CE.[6]<\/a> Kautilya remains a popular and enduring figure in Indian academia and culture as exhibited through continued interest, plays, and popular television series about his life.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

In Sanskrit the words Artha<\/em> \u00a0means \u201caim\u201d or \u201cgoal\u201d and Shastra<\/em> \u201ctreatise\u201d or \u201cbook.\u201d The goal of the treatise is a comprehensive understanding of statecraft which enables a monarch to rule effectively, primarily through the flourishing of material well-being.[8]<\/a> Common translations of the title are The Science of Politics<\/em>, The Science of Political Economy<\/em>, and The Science of Material Gain<\/em>.[9]<\/a> Arthashastra<\/em> is divided into 15 books covering topics such as: discipline and character, the duties of government superintendents, law, justice, conduct of courtiers, invasion, war, and the work of spies.<\/p>\n

Kautilya Says\u2026<\/p>\n

Regarding the virtue of the king:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe king who is well educated and disciplined in the sciences, devoted to good Government of his subjects, and bent on doing good to all people will enjoy the earth unopposed.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cRestraint of the organs of sense, on which success in study and discipline depends can be enforced by abandoning lust, anger, greed, vanity, haughtiness, and overjoy.\u201d[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

Insights into governance:<\/p>\n

\u201cSovereignty is only possible with assistance.\u201d[12]<\/a><\/p>\n

Qualifications of ministerial officers:<\/p>\n

Native born of a high and influential family, wise, intelligent, eloquent, pure character, loyal, brave, skillful, free from procrastination, fickle-mindedness, and any qualities that excite enmity and hatred.[13]<\/a><\/p>\n

Caste and Religious Influence<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note the theo-political perspective of Arthashastra<\/em>. Kautilya references his Brahmin upbringing and the triple Vedas in which the four castes and four orders of religious life have influenced his ideas of statecraft.[14]<\/a> The emphasis on character, discipline, education, and governance at the beginning of the book are a deep contrast with later chapters referencing the conquering of other lands for material gain and war time tactics.<\/p>\n

Interpretations<\/p>\n

Recent scholarship of Arthashastra<\/em> continues to clarify the ideas of Kautilya. For example, Max Weber who appears to be the first political thinker to address the similarities between Kautilya and Machiavelli noted, \u201cTruly radical “Machiavellianism”, in the popular sense of that word, is classically expressed in Indian literature in the Arthashastra of Kautilya (written long before the birth of Christ, ostensibly in the time of Chandragupta): compared to it, Machiavelli’s The Prince<\/em> is harmless.\u201d[15]<\/a> Roger Boesche considers Kautilya to be the first great political realist.[16]<\/a> He argues that Kautilya encouraged imperial expansion and had no qualms about advising for the conquering other kingdoms during times of economic stability and prosperity.[17]<\/a> Stuart Gray broadens the lens in which to understand Kautilya. He suggests Kautilya is not a radical political realist but rather traditional, conservative political thinker and considers Arthashastra<\/em> a work representing \u201cbrahmanical-Hindu political thought.\u201d[18]<\/a> Of modern day significance, Gray contends, \u201cKautilya\u2019s political-theological realism furnishes a mirror for our own condition and helps us identify our potential blind spots.\u201d[19]<\/a><\/p>\n

With such a cursory read it\u2019s hard to know what to think of Arthashastra<\/em>. It\u2019s an impressive and ancient work filled with virtue, yet boldly suggests that prosperous well-ruled nations have the right to invade and take what is not theirs by any means for the betterment of their people. I appreciate Stuart Gray’s idea that Arthashastra<\/em> can serve modern-day readers as a mirror highlighting the absurdity of claiming a just form of rule while acting unjustly toward those with less power.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Roger Boesche, The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and His Arthashastra <\/em>(Lexington Books: Lanham, MD, 2003), 2.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Joshua J. Mark, “Arthashastra<\/a>.” World History Encyclopedia<\/em>. Last modified June 23, 2020. https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/Arthashastra\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Stuart Gray, \u201cReexamining Kautilya and Machiavelli: Flexibility and the Problem of Legitimacy in Brahmanical and Secular Realism,\u201d Sage Publications<\/em>, Vol. 42(6) (2014), 638. DOI:10.1177\/0090591713505094<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Kautilya. Arthashastra<\/em>, First published 1915, translated by Shamasastry, (Fingerprint Classics!: New Delhi, India, Reprint 2023), Introduction.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Joshua J. Mark, “Arthashastra<\/a>.” World History Encyclopedia<\/em>. Last modified June 23, 2020. https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/Arthashastra\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arthashastra<\/a><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Kautilya. Arthashastra<\/em>, Introduction.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Stuart Grey, \u201cReexamining Kautilya and Machiavelli, 638.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Joshua J. Mark, “Arthashastra<\/a>.” World History Encyclopedia<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Kautilya. Arthashastra<\/em>, 21.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Ibid., 22.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Ibid., 24.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Ibid., 26.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Ibid., 17.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Max Weber, Politics as a Vocation<\/em><\/a> (1919). This translation is from Weber: Selections in Translation<\/em>, ed. W. G. Runciman, trans. Eric Matthews (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978), 220.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Roger Boesche, \u201cModerate Machiavelli? Contrasting The Prince <\/em>with the Arthashastra <\/em>of Kautilya,\u201d Critical Horizons <\/em>3, no. 2 (2002), 253-257.<\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> Roger Boesche, The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and His Arthashastra <\/em>(Lexington Books: Lanham, MD, 2003), 4.<\/p>\n

[18]<\/a> Stuart Grey, \u201cReexamining Kautilya and Machiavelli, 638.<\/p>\n

[19]<\/a> Ibid., 651.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever heard of Arthashastra? I hadn\u2019t until this week\u2019s assignment. Led by my curiosity about what 300+ year old books on leadership might exist in Asia, I was delighted to find an ancient book from the sub-continent of India that predates much of what is considered classical treatises on leadership and statecraft from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":184,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3267,2489],"class_list":["post-38340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arthashastra","tag-dlgp02","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/184"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38340"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38375,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38340\/revisions\/38375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}