Public Administration in Ancient India c4.5

c4.5

The method of study pursued in ancient times was somewhat different from that generally adopted at the present day. Politics was treated more as an art than as a science; in other words, guidance in the practice of actual administration, rather than the construction of a complete and consistent system of political theories, was the object mainly aimed at in the study of the subject. Chānakya, for instance, defines Politics as "the science which treats of what is right in public policy and what is not, and of power and weakness."¹ According to the Sukranīti, a knowledge of the science "enables rulers to gain victories over their foes, to please their subjects, and to be proficient in statecraft."² The mode of treatment was thus more practical than theoretical; and one result of this was that the conclusions were expressed in the form not of scientific principles but of moral precepts.