The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c11.s1.t6.2

c11.s1.t6.2

In the third edition (pp. 137-138) Smith's attitude to the *Arthaśāstra* had already changed in some vital points. "It is not desirable," says he, "to amalgamate the rules laid down in the *Arthaśāstra* with the descriptions recorded by the Greeks, because the latter present to us the impression made upon foreign observers of institutions actually existing at a particular date, 300 B.C. in round numbers, after the foundation of the Maurya Empire, whereas the former express the arrangements favoured by Brāhmaṇ ministers as suitable for any independent kingdom at any time."