A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c10.5

c10.5

In the two preceding chapters we have endeavoured to describe as completely as the surviving materials at our disposal would permit, the exuberant growth of political ideas in the literature of Arthaśāstra. We have seen how the teachers of this science not only explored the region of practical politics which was their special province, but also made important and original contributions to the theory of the State. In the two canonical works of this period, especially in their sections and chapters relating to the branch of kingly duties (rājadharma)∗ an attempt seems to have been made to graft a more, or less considerable Arthaśāstra stock upon a slender canonical stem derived from the Dharmasūtras.† To the stimulus derived from contact with the predominant Arthaśāstra element it is, we think, mainly owing that the Manusamhitā and still more the Mahābhārata make, as we hope to show presently, some of the most important contributions to political theory.