State and Government in Ancient India c8.s2.12

c8.s2.12

The names of well-known works like the *Manusmṛiti*, the *Yājñavalkyasmṛiti*, the *Parāśarasmṛiti* and the *Śukranīti* show that in ancient India authors often preferred to remain incognito and attributed their works to divine or semi-divine persons. We need not therefore suppose that works on polity attributed to Brahmadeva, Manu, Śiva or Indra existed only in the imagination of a Kauṭilya or the author of the *Mahābhārata*.