Hindu Administrative Institutions c6.s1.4

c6.s1.4

Bhīṣma continues: ‘Śankara, otherwise known as Śiva or Viśālākṣa, condensed this *Nītiśāstra* into ten thousand chapters. Indra who learnt this from Mahā-dēva further summarized it into five thousand chapters. This is well-known as *Bahudantaka*. Bṛhaspati made it into three thousand chapters, while Śukrāchārya further condensed it into a thousand.¹ From the extant *Vaiśampāyananīti* (apparently a later work) it is clear that the process of condensation went on for a long time. Bharadvāja summarized this science into seven hundred chapters and Gaurīśiras and Vyāsa into five hundred and three hundred chapters respectively. It would be legitimate to inquire why this process of condensation went on continuously. The answer is furnished by the authors of the *Śukranīti* and the *Vaiśampāyananīti*. They advance the argument that, as the tenure of life of the people was growing shorter as ages passed by, the political theorists of the various periods felt the need of a book which could be mastered in the short span of life available.²