Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c8.9

c8.9

The Arthaśāstra consists of Sūtras and commentaries thereon (both composed by Kautalya) and some verses appended at the close of each chapter and sometimes thrown into the text. Many of these also are probably Kautalya's composition. Kautalya speaks in the third person as some other Sanskrit writers do. Medhātithi, commenting on Manu, VII, 191, 205, quotes two passages from what he calls Samānatantra. Jolly has traced the passages to Kautalya and thinks that his work may have been styled Samānatantra from the recurrence of the phrase samānam.