The Mauryan Polity c12.61

c12.61

Because he had perverted and crooked views, people called him Kauṭilya though his name was really Kauṭalya. Even a Pandit of a lower order could not style himself 'Mr. Crooked,' speaking of himself *iti Kauṭalya* or *ne iti Kauṭalya* as many as 72 times in the text. To add to this is the fact that Kāmandaka speaks of him as 'वेधस्' a term of great respect generally used when speaking of sages. Kāmandaka adds that he belonged to an eminent family renowned for culture, a past master of all the four Vedas, who, by force of intelligence and skill, deposed the powerful