A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c9.36

c9.36

are embodied in the standard definition of Arthaśāstra. It is under the second head that most of Kauṭilya's rules on the subject of home and foreign policy may be ranged. An examination of the most typical of these rules which is all that can be attempted here exhibits, we think, some remarkable traits of the author's nature. Such are the qualities of profound insight into human nature and into the essential character of government, amazing resourcefulness and ingenuity, and intelligent appreciation of the factors making for the advantage of the State combined with a more or less studied disregard of morality and religion. Kauṭilya begins by urging upon the prince a thorough course of intellectual training and moral discipline, the former involving the study of the four traditional sciences under the guidance of specialised teachers, and the latter centering round the control of the senses which are branded by the author as the six enemies. Kauṭilya sums up his view on this point by saying that the king should avoid injuring the women and the property of others and should shun falsehood, haughtiness, and evil proclivities : he should enjoy pleasure without disregarding virtue and wealth, or else enjoy this in an equal measure with the last. In thus making the king's education and self-control the first requisite of successful government, Kauṭilya or rather the earlier authors whose ideas he is echoing, made, it seems to us, a notable advance in political theory. For the similar, although much shorter, rule in Gautama's Dharmaśāstra\* is laid down merely as part of the general duty (dharma) of the king.