State and Government in Ancient India c8.s2.27

c8.s2.27

Shamasastri and Jayaswal demur to these conclusions. They point out that the colophon of the work distinctly states that it was written by Kauṭilya, who had rescued the country from the Nandas. To say that the author was not acquainted with a wide empire is incorrect, for he states (at p. 340) that the sphere of the jurisdiction of a *chakravartin* extends from the Himalayas to the ocean. The aim of the book is to describe the machinery of a normal state; the organization of a big empire which was only an occasional phenomenon in Indian history is not, therefore, discussed in detail. The *Arthaśāstra* no doubt refers only to the superintendents of the different departments ; the boards of five may have been omitted because they were mainly non-official in character. It is quite a common practice among Indian authors to refer to themselves by their own name in the third person singular, rather than in the first person plural ; so the references to Kauṭilya in the third person need not necessarily show that he was not himself the author of the book.