State and Government in Ancient India c8.s2.37

c8.s2.37

Kauṭilya was not only a famous statesman but also the founder of a school of politics; hence the great respect in which his name and work have been held by the subsequent centuries. Both Bāṇa¹ and Daṇḍin² refer to the study of this work especially by the princes, and the Jain tradition, as recorded in the *Nandīsūtra* (p. 391) enumerates the work among the heretical books along with the *Rāmāyaṇa* and the *Bhārata*. Even south Indian epigraphs describe skilled administrators and diplomats like king Durvinīta (9th century)³ and Mārashimha (10th century) of the Ganga dynasty³ as incarnations of Vishṇugupta or Kauṭilya or as well versed in his statecraft.