[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The Mauryan Polity](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1932) › c12.53 # The Mauryan Polity c12.53 The Mauryan Polity c12.53 - **Language:** English ### [c12.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1932.c12.53) Kauṭalya is known not by one or two names, but by a number of names. These are Vātsyāyana, Mallanāga, Kauṭalya, Cāṇakya, Dramila, Pakṣila, Svāmi, Viṣṇugupta, Aṅgula.¹ The \*Vaijayantī\* of Yādavaprakāśa (cir 1100 A.D.), a contemporary of Hemacandra, mentions Vārāṇaka and omits Cāṇakya.² The name Cāṇakya is unmistakably a patronymic, for, Hemacandra distinctly says: चणकात्मजः or son of Caṇaka. This falsifies the story contained in Viśākhadatta’s \*Mudrārākṣasa\*, namely, that the Nanda king imprisoned Kauṭalya who consequently had to take gram (\*caṇaka\*) for his food, and hence the name Cāṇakya. - [Previous: c12.52](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1932.c12.52) - [Next: c12.54](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1932.c12.54) - [Up: c12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1932.c12) ## Cites (2) - [Mudrārākṣasa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.plays.rajacarita.mudraraksasa) — Viśākhadatta, Sanskrit - [Vaijayantī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.kosa.ubhayarupa.vaijayanti) — Yādavaprakāśa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1932.c12.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.dikshitar-1932.c12.53) · Pramāṇa