Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c32.s1.83

c32.s1.83

The heterodox Jaina and Buddhist and the orthodox Brahmin literatures assert that Kauṭilya was the minister of Chandragupta. The Buddhist and the Jaina books treat him as having been a rascal, debasing coins and making money, making conquests and killing men, etc. The Purāṇas, on the other hand, show him to be an able minister. How could such contrary and human details be given to a person imaginary? His condemnation and awkward Gotra name are proof to my mind of his historical existence. If we look into the A. it answers both characterizations of K., the heterodox and orthodox. He would put down the heterodox, and the heterodox would find him a bad man.