History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s14.1

v1.c6.s14.1

This epoch-making work was first published by Dr. Shamasastri in 1909 in the Mysore Sanskrit Series and was also translated by him. Pandit T. Ganapati Sastri of Trivandrum has published the work with his own commentary called Śrīmūla. Dr. Jolly and Dr. Schmidt edited the text with a valuable introduction and the commentary, called Nayacandrikā, of Mādhavayajvan on portions of the text in the Punjab Sanskrit series at Lahore. In this work the edition of 1919 by Dr. Shamasastri has been used. This work has given rise to frequent and furious controversies about its authorship, its authenticity and its age and it cannot be said that we have heard the last of this din of controversy. Moreover this work has inspired besides numerous articles in journals several monographs, some of which have somewhat high sounding titles, such as Narendranath Law's 'Studies in Ancient Indian Polity,' Dr. P. Banerji's 'Public Administration in Ancient India,' Ghosal's 'History of Hindu Political Theories,' Majumdar's 'Corporate Life in Ancient India,' Benoy Kumar Sarkar's 'Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus,' Jayasval's 'Hindu Polity,' Prof. S. V. Visvanathan's 'International Law in Ancient India (1925)'. It is not possible to discuss at great length all the problems about Kauṭilya here. Only a brief statement can be attempted. For fuller study reference may be made to the following works and papers :— Hillebrandt's 'über das Kauṭilyaśāstra und Verwandtes' (Breslau 1908), Z D M G vol. 67, pp. 49-96 (Dr. Jolly), Z D M G vol. 68, pp. 345-359 and vol. 69, p. 369 ff; J R A S 1916, pp. 130-137 (Prof. Keith), I. A. for 1918, pp. 157-161 and pp. 187-195 (Dr. Jacobi translated by Dr. Sukthankar), Dr. Kalidas Nag's 'Les Théories Diplomatiques de l'Inde ancienne et l'Arthaśāstra' (Paris 1923) and its translation in 'Journal of Indian History' vol. V, Dr. Otto Stein's 'Megasthenes und Kauṭilya' (Vienna 1922), K. V. Rangasvami Ayyangar's lectures on Ancient Indian Polity (Madras 1916), Dr. Winternitz in Calcutta Review 1924 and in his history of Indian Literature (vol. III, pp. 509-524), I. A. for 1924, pp. 128-136 and 141-146 (Dr. Jacobi translated by Prof. Utgikar); Dr. Johann J. Meyer's 'Das altindische Buch vom Welt- und Staatsleben das Arthaśāstra des Kauṭilya' (Leipzig, 1925) and Prof. N. C. Bandopadhyaya's exposition of the social ideal and political theory of Kauṭilya. The Indian Antiquary for 1925 (pp. 175 and 201) gives an exhaustive bibliography on the date of Kauṭilya.