A History of Sanskrit Literature c17.24

c17.24

As both the *Panchatantra* and the *Hitopadeça* were originally intended as manuals for the instruction of kings in domestic and foreign policy, they belong to the class of literature which the Hindus call *nīti-çāstra*, or "Science of Political Ethics." A purely metrical treatise, dealing directly with the principles of policy, is the *Nīti-sāra*, or "Essence of Conduct," of Kāmandaka, which is one of the sources of the maxims introduced by the author of the *Hitopadeça*.