Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c8.13

c8.13

It is significant that Kautalya simply does not think of dealing with the entire field of knowledge. Politics must be treated as an independent science. Only it needs to be fitted into the general scheme of knowledge. Altogether, we are told, there are four sciences. First, Ānvīkṣakī or philosophy including the materialistic Lokāyata system which sharpens the intellect, opens the heart, and opens the gate to all knowledge and virtue. Secondly, the Trayī or the triple Vedas, Rik, Sāma and Yajus. To these might be added the Atharvaveda and historical lore. Attached to the Vedic framework were certain subsidiary sciences which had grown up to assist the recitation and interpretation of Vedic hymns, and the determination of the time of Vedic sacrifices. Such were grammar, lexicography, prosody, phonetics and astronomy. It is from the Vedas that the regulations on four castes and four stages of life were derived. Thirdly, Vārtā or economics was concerned with agriculture, cattle-breeding and trade. Lastly, Daṇḍanīti or politics was the science of government, of the enforcement of law and order.¹ It treated of the means of fresh acquisitions, of the preservation and increase of acquisitions and of bestowing the surplus on the deserving. Some had sought to relegate politics to a secondary position. But Kautalya proclaimed that politics was the supreme science and supreme art. It lay at the root of all. The welfare of all sciences depended on the well-being of politics.² But Kautalya does not agree with Uśanas in thinking that the science of government is the only science. Perhaps, he realised that this would only mean the designation of a conglomeration of sciences by the name of politics.