State and Government in Ancient India c8.s2.50

c8.s2.50

The great fascination which Kauṭilya had over his successors is well illustrated by *Kāmandakīya Nītisāra*, composed probably in the Gupta age (*c.* 500 A. D.). This book is nothing but a metrical summary of the work of Kauṭilya. Obviously its anonymous writer felt that the best service he could render to the students of politics would be to summarise this standard work in the popular Anushṭub metre, so that it could be easily memorised by the student. The work, however, does not at all describe the administrative machinery. The king and his courtiers dominate the picture, showing the great importance that monarchy had acquired by this time. Kauṭilya's chapter on republican states is omitted, probably because they were no longer in existence. Civil, criminal and personal law are completely left out, probably because the Smṛiti writers of this period had specialised in this branch. Jayaswal attributed the work to Śikharasvāmin, a minister of Chandragupta II ; his arguments however are not convincing. Vishākhadatta and Daṇḍin do not refer to the work but Vāmana (*c.* 800 A.D.) knows it. Its time may be somewhere between 500 and 700 A. D.