Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s2.52

c9.s2.52

¹ The work was known not only to Bāṇa, the author of the *Kādambarī* who flourished in the seventh century A D., but to the *Nandisūtra* and *Paiṇṇas* of the Jainas which may have existed in the early centuries A. D. and probably also to the *Nyāya-Bhāshya* of Vātsyāyana, which is criticised by Dignāga and perhaps by Vasubandhu too (I. A. 1915, p. 82, 1918, p. 103). According to some scholars the *Arthaśāstra* literature is later than the Dharmaśāstras, and dates only from about the third century A. D. But the prevalence of the study of *Arthavidyā* in a much earlier epoch is proved by the Junāgadh Rock Inscription of Rudradāman I and the existence of treatises on *Arthaśāstra* is rendered probable by the mention of technical terms like "*Praṇaya*," "*Vishti*," etc. It is interesting to note that the *Kauṭilīya*, which purports to be a compendium of pre-existing *Arthaśāstras*, does not quote the views of previous Achāryas or teachers in the chapter on "*Praṇaya*" (Bk. V. Ch. 2) It is, therefore, not unlikely that Rudradāman I, who claims to have studied the *Arthabidyā* learnt the use of the term from the *Kauṭilīya* itself and not from a pre-Kauṭilyan treatise. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Junāgaḍh epigraphs show a special acquaintance with the *Arthaśāstra* literature. The Junāgaḍh Inscription of Skanda Gupta for instance, refers to the testing of officials by *upadhās—sarv-opadhābhīścha viśuddhabuddhiḥ*, "possessed of a mind that (has been tried and) is (found to be) pure by all the tests of honesty." The verse