Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c19.s4.82

c19.s4.82

A less pleasing feature of ancient Indian polity in the Scythian, as in other times, was the employment of spies, particularly of the "*Saṁcharāṁtakas*," or wandering emissaries, whose functions are described with gruesome details in the *Arthaśāstra*. The evidence of foreign witnesses in Maurya and Gupta periods seems, however, to suggest that political morality did not actually sink so low as a study of the *Arthaśāstra* would lead us to think. Vatsyāyana probably voices the real feelings of his countrymen when he says that every single maxim for which there is provision in a theoretical treatise need not be followed in actual practice, because theoretical manuals have to be comprehensive, but practical application should have a limited range. No sane man will think of eating dog's flesh simply because its flavour, tonic power, dressing, etc., are discussed in medical treatises.