Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c11.s2.t4.9

c11.s2.t4.9

¹ It is significant of the late origin of Nītiśāstras and the comparative neglect of Arthaśāstras about the eleventh century A.D. that Alberūnī has nothing to say of them while he gives a correct list of twenty Smṛitis, composed by "twenty sons of Brahman" and containing "commandments and prohibitions," and while he gives two lists of eighteen Purāṇas, a correct one as it was read out to him from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and another which he had merely heard and which differs in regard to several names. (Alberūnī, India, tr. Sachau, Vol. I, pp. 130-131.) The word Nīti is derived from nī to lead. Nītiśāstras were meant to give the lead to mankind.