The Mauryan Polity c12.39

c12.39

(5) ‘The very name Kauṭilya—never called Cāṇakya and only once Viṣṇugupta raises great doubts.’ For, Kauṭilya means ‘crookedness’, ‘falsehood’, etc. It is unlikely that a minister should style himself ‘Mr. Crooked’ or ‘Crookedness personified’.⁵