History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.23

v4.c62.23

Another name for the science of government is Nītiśāstra or Rājanītiśāstra. Śānti¹⁴ 59. 74 says that in the nītiśāstra are set forth all those means whereby people are prevented from forsaking the right path. The Nītisāra of Kāmandaka¹⁵ (I. 6) does obeisance to Viṣṇugupta who extracted the nectar of Nītiśāstra from the vast ocean of Arthaśāstra (works). The Pañcatantra p. 2 holds that Arthaśāstra and Nītiśāstra are synonymous. The Mitākṣarā on Yāj. II. 21 remarks that the arthaśāstra referred to by Yāj. is rājanītiśāstra that is part and parcel of dharmaśāstra. The word ‘rājanīti’ occurs in Raghuvaṁśa 17.68. Vide Bhagavadgītā X. 38, Āśramavāsikaparva 6.5, Manu VII. 177, Śānti 111. 73, 138.39, 43 and 196, 268.9 and Anuśāsana 163.7 for Nītiśāstra meaning Arthaśāstra or Rājanīti and Droṇa 152.29 and Śānti 37.9 for the word rājanīti. Another noteworthy word is ‘naya’ which means ‘line of policy’ and is employed by the Arthaśāstra (I. 2) when it says ‘naya and anaya (bad policy) are treated of in Daṇḍanīti’. It is also used in several classical works, such as the Kirātārjunīya (II. 3, 12, 54, XIII. 17).