A History of Indian Literature v3.c35.s3.34

v3.c35.s3.34

It is probable that court poets and ornate court poetry already existed during the reign of the Maurya dynasty. It is yet doubtful as to how far the Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya reflects the condition of the court of the Maurya King Candragupta. The tradition ascribing the authorship of this work to the wise minister of Candragupta agrees little with the facts of history. In any case, the work goes back to a considerably high antiquity, and it is probable that its earliest elements reach upto the Maurya period. And it is noteworthy that among the large number of court employees are mentioned also paurāṇikas, sūtas, māgadhas, kuśīlavas; (i.e. chroniclers, bards, singers and dramatists), but there is not a word about the court poet. The teacher and the taught (ācāryāḥ vidyāvantaś ca) who got an honorarium of 500 to 1000 paṇas⁴, according to merit, were probably only prominent Brāhmaṇas, whom the king wanted to honour and not perhaps the poets who would have been called "kavi". Among the names of literary works referred to in Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra there is no mention of kāvya anywhere. This accords also with the fact that the inscriptions of Aśoka are written in a plain and simple style and do not bear any trace of the ornate style. It is near about this time that the rise of the poetical form is often suggested.