The Mauryan Polity c12.24

c12.24

Under this category comes Kauṭalya. He was a Pandit of a rare order as also a keen statesman. If he were a mere Pandit he would not have cared for the opinions or the theories of his predecessors. He would give us a new work completely original wherein controversial theories would have been rigidly excluded. For example treatises on similar subjects like the Śukranītisāra or Bārhaspatyaśāstra do not at all discuss the opinions of their predecessors, much less contemporary views. Rarely do they mention even the names of such treatises. But by discussing other views with care and attention which they deserve, Kauṭalya shows himself more than a Pandit, and having been acquainted with the practical administration of the land we can call him a Pandit-statesman. If in a few places he has shown himself a Pandit, in many places he shows himself a statesman.