A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c9.54

c9.54

Running all through the mass of Kauṭilya's rules of foreign policy may be detected the influence of the notion that expediency is the golden rule of politics. This idea is reflected, for instance, in the short list of fundamental rules with which Kauṭilya opens his description. He who is losing strength in comparison with another shall make peace : he who is growing strong shall make war : he who thinks that neither can the enemy hurt him nor he the enemy, shall observe neutrality : he who has an excess of advantages shall march : he who is wanting in strength shall seek protection : he who undertakes work requiring assistance shall adopt the dual policy.∗ In chapter after chapter in the course of the following pages Kauṭilya indulges in a delicate balancing of the circumstances of two or more States so as to discover the exact policy that should be followed. Politics, as thus treated, rises almost to the level of a fine art. The key to this eminently intellectual character of the Kauṭilyan statecraft is to be found, we think, in the author's remarkable appraisement of the three traditional powers (śaktis) of the king. Differing from his unnamed predecessor whom he quotes, Kauṭilya declares the power of deliberation (mantraśakti) to be superior to that of the army and the treasury (prabhuśakti), and the latter to be more important than energy (utsāhaśakti). Regarding the second point Kauṭilya argues with characteristic contempt for the impotent exhibition of energy, "He who has power overreaches by virtue of his strength the king possessing mere energy," and again, "Rulers possessing power (even those that were) women, minors, lame and blind, conquered the earth by defeating or buying up those who had mere energy." As regards the first point, to which reference has been made above, Kauṭilya exhibits his sense of the supreme excellence of intellect by saying that the king who is intelligent and versed in the sciences can apply his skill in deliberation with little effort and can overreach even those enemies who are endowed with energy and power.∗