A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c13.22

c13.22

The reflections of the Hindu thinkers on the art of government properly so-called, bear a striking resemblance, as we have seen, to those of certain European thinkers, notably Machiavelli.† In particular, the Florentine’s ruthless sacrifice of morality to political expediency finds its counterpart to a considerable extent in the ideas of the Arthaśāstra, not to say those of the later canonical works of the Brāhmaṇas. We are particularly interested to notice in the present place that the Mahābhārata, while setting just bounds to Machiavellianism, sanctions a limited departure from the strict moral law in furtherance of the interests of the State.