The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c14.s9.t12: 10. The Last Text of Nītiśāstra: Chitnis's Marathi Rājanīti

The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c14.s9.t12

Language: English

10. The Last Text of Nītiśāstra: Chitnis's Marathi Rājanīti

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Chronologically the last work on *nīti*-or *artha-śāstra* is perhaps the *Rājanīti* of Malhār Rām Rāo Chitnis.¹⁷ The treatise is in Marathi prose and was composed in the first decade of the nineteenth century (c. 1810). The text comprises some ninety pages of royal octavo size. The book is divided into seven *prakaraṇas* or chapters. The table of contents is given below, chapter by chapter:

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¹⁷ Marathi text edited by K. N. Sane for the *Kāvyetihāsa Saṃgraha Series* (Poona 1887). I am indebted to the historian G. S. Sardesai (Kashmet, Poona) for kindly placing this work at my disposal.

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I. Coronation.

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1. The King. 2. The Coronation. 3. The Ceremony. 4. The Offerings to the priests etc. 5. Ascending the throne. 6. Rituals bearing on fire, bull, elephant etc.

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II. The Throne.

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1. The Country. 2. The City. 3. The Fort. 4. The Court. 5. The Throne. 6. Entering the Court. 7. The Order of Precedence for the *Pradhānas* (Ministers) and others. 8. The King's Functions.

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III. The King's Virtues.

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1. The Seven limbs of the kingdom. 2. The King. 3. The Four Duties. 4. The Acquisition of *dravya* (goods or wealth). 5-7. Their Increase, preservation and consumption. 8. The Control of passions. 9. The Six Vices. 10. The Pursuit of Studies. 11. The Four *Vidyās*. 12. The Giving up of *Himsā* (Killing) and protection of the weak. 13. The Cultivation of good company. 13. Good words. 15. Purity and Simplicity. 16. The Cultivation of new pursuits and the giving up of sloth. 17. The Seven Vices. 18. Alcoholism. 19. Dice. 20. Hunting. 21. The Treatment of the subjects as children. 22. The Payment of salaries. 23. Presents to the learned and the otherwise qualified. 24. The Councillors. 25. The Queen.

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IV. The Ministers.

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1. The *Rājamaṇḍala* (the Royal Sphere) of Thirteen 2. The Heir-Apparent. 3. The Eight *Amātyas* and their qualifications. 4. The *Mukhya Pradhāna* (Premier). 5. The *Senāpati* (*Pradhāna*). 6. The *Amātya* (*Pradhāna*). 7. The *Sachiva* (*Pradhāna*). 8. The *Mantrī* (*Pradhāna*). 9. The *Sumanta* (*Pradhāna*). 10. The *Paṇḍita* also called *Chhāndoga* (*Pradhāna*). 11. The *Nyāya Pradhāna*. 12. The Duties of the King and the Eight *Pradhānas*. 13. The Astronomer. 14. The Scribes. 15. The Friend. 16. The Diverse Officials (*adhikari*), e.g. those for the departments concerning stores, clothing, jewels, arms, grains, etc. and for the stables for elephants, horses, camels and cattle. 17. Officials for territorial jurisdictions. 18. The Commander of the Navy (*Naukādhipati*). 19. The Trainer of Horses and Elephants. 20. The Chief of Fire-guns (*Agni-yantrādhikārī*). 21. The Qualifications and Duties of Officials.

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V. The Daily Routine of the King, Part I.

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1. Music at Dawn while getting up from bed. 2. Toilet. 3. Attending the Court. 4. Trial of Cases according to *arthaśāstra*, *dharmaśāstra*, *nītiśāstra* and *deśāchāra* (custom). 5. The Five Mahāyajnas (Punishing the wicked, Advancing the good, Inceasing the wealth in a righteous manner, Feeding the hungry, Protecting the kingdom). 6. The Eight Functions (*aṣṭa karma*). 7. The *Pancha Varga* (five items, *sādhya*, *sādhanopāya*, *deśakālavibhāga*, *vinipātapratīkāra*, and *siddhi*). The Three *upāyas* in regard to each function. 9. Meals. 10. Examination of poisons. 11. Rest. 12. Hunting. 13. The Arms (*khaḍga*). 14. The Merits of hunting (by water, on land and in the air).

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V. The Daily Routine of the King, Part II.

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1. Evening prayers. 2. Listening to the Spy. 3. Meals. 4. Music after meals. 5. Examination of the accounts. 6. Confidential discussions with a few councillors. 7. Six *guṇas* (Tactics). 8. Peace. 9. War. 10. Expedition. 11. Siege. 12. The Double- Truck Action. 13. Seeking asylum. 14. The Friend, the Enemy, the *Udāsīna* (neutral ?), each of three kinds. 15. The Four *Upāyas* (*sāma*, *dāna*, *bheda* and *daṇḍa*). 16. Retiring for the night.

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VI. *The Treasure and Forts.

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1. The Eighteen Departments (*Kārkhānā*) of the Koṣa. 2. Solicitude for *dravya* (goods or wealth). 3. Maintenance of the state. 4. The Forts.

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VII. *The Army.

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1. Fate *vs.* Manliness. 2. Superiority of energism. 3. The Six kinds of Army (*Maula*, *Bhūta*, *Śreṇī*, *Suhṛit*, *Aṭavī*). 4. The Four limbs of the army. 5. Elephant corps. 6. Elephant stables. 7. Cavalry. 8. Infantry. 9. The Strength and weakness of the enemy. 10. The Messengers or envoys. 11. The Spies. 12. The Soldiers. 13. The March. 14. Auspicious and inauspicious signs (omens). 15. Encampment. 16. The Battlefield. 17. The General. 18. The Battle-array. 19. Fair and unfair battles. 20. Exhortation to soldiers (This is the lengthiest section in the entire treatise). 21. Rewarding of soldiers. 22. No sin in killing the enemy. 23. All sins are burnt to ashes in action and washed away with a bath in the blood of the battlefield.

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It is clear from the contents that Chitnis's Marathi *Rājanīti* is a regular *nīti* or *artha* work executed in the conventional style of the Sanskrit *nītiśāstras*. Chitnis does not say in so many words exactly where he has got his material from. But the influence of Manu and the *Mahābhārata* is apparent at every point. Indeed once or twice he mentions them by name. Had this book been written in Sanskrit we would have called it a *nibandha*, i.e., digest or compilation from diverse sources. But Chitnis writes neither like a *bhāṣyakāra* (commentator) nor like a *nibandhakāra* (compiler). He has not cared to quote passages from others by name and does not give us reasons to feel that he is writing notes on certain texts. The work does not formally look like an annotation. Nor does it compel us to come into contact with the opinions of Chitnis’s predecessors. To a Marathi reader who happens not to be acquainted with Sanskrit *nibandhas* on *rājanīti* Chitnis’s treatise would look like an original work. This consideration is exceedingly important in the history of Hindu political thought. It is not that Chitnis wants to pose as an original authority or that he is trying to be a plagiarist. He has assimilated the Sanskrit originals in a wonderful manner and has produced a work in Marathi for the benefit of his countrymen.

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Chitnis’s grasp of the subject is extraordinary. He deals with the most important items and although he is trying to be brief he spends enough time over each and every point of value. The reader cannot feel that Chitnis is doing injustice to the subject matter. His presentation of the topics is delightful. He uses very short sentences and has an almost conversational *tête-à-tête* manner of telling things. In this Marathi work we come across what may be called French lucidity in style. A most noteworthy feature is his employment of Sanskritic words throughout the treatise. With the exception of the verbs and the inflexions one finds here almost what one would call *sādhu* (chaste) *Bānglā*. Perhaps in this item of language we have to watch the result of Śivāji’s cultural nationalism consisting, as it did, among other things, in the revival of Sanskrit studies and the replacement of Persian by Sanskrit terms wherever necessary.

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Naturally, the students of Maratha history, especially those who are interested in dates, events, diplomacy etc. bearing on Śivāji or the Peshwas, are not likely to get anything attractive in this work. But of the institutions, economic, political, legal etc., such as were introduced by the Marathas it may not be impossible to get traces. For instance, the category *naukādhipati* (commander of the fleet) is unknown in the ordinary Sanskrit *nītiśāstras*. This may point to the Maratha navy. Chitnis speaks of the eventual sea-fights in this connection. Again, the *agni-yantrādhikārī* is an official of whom the Sanskrit *nītiśāstras* know nothing. We exclude from our consideration here the reference to *agni-chūrṇa* and *nālikāṣtra* in the *Śukranīti* (IV. vii, lines 389-421). But in any case, Śukra does not know of a special official in charge of *agni-yantra*, *nālikāstra* or the like. The camels of Chitnis are interesting. They are referred to in the *Śukranīti* (lines 41-68) also. But while Śukra knows a camel corps Chitnis speaks only of the stables for camels. The doctrine of eight *pradhānas* might suggest something in common between Chitnis and Śukra. But the *senāpati* who is one of the *pradhānas* of Chitnis has no place in Śukra's count of *prakritis* (departments). In the *Śukranīti*, besides, importance is attached to the doctrine of ten *prakritis* rather than of eight (II. lines 141-175). It is only incidentally that Śukra refers to the doctrine of eight departments as "recommended by certain people." Be it observed, however, that the category *pradhāna* implies in the *Śukranīti* the councillor or minister of a particular type,—the chief secretary or the premier. But in Chitnis's *Rājanīti* the *pradhāna* is the generic name for all the eight ministers, the premier being known as the *mukhyapradhāna*. These few references suggest that Chitnis is not summarizing slavishly all that he has read in the Sanskrit texts. The influence of the Maratha *milieu* on his *Rājanīti* cannot be altogether ignored. He has evidently tried to Marathanize his Sanskrit originals and adapt them to the conditions of his country.

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In Rāmachandrapant's *Ādnāpatra* or *Rājanīti* (1716) we observed that the author was writing something historical about the Marathas but that he incorporated general ideas from the traditional Sanskrit texts. With Malhār Rām Rāo Chitniṣ the inspiration is just the opposite. He has prepared in Marathi a succinct summary of the Sanskrit *nītiśāstras*. But he has introduced one or two Maratha features. And yet these Marathisms have been made use of so few and far between and in such a skilful manner that it will take a special study on the strength of authentic historical records to detect the references to Maratha institutions.

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The work is on the whole very valuable in the history of Hindu positivism. We understand that the Kauṭalyan science was a living force even in the days of Rammohun Roy. The tradition of the *Arthaśāstra* has come down to our own times, so to say. As the last document of political philosophy in independent Hindustan Malhār Rām Rāo Chitnis's Marathi *Rājanīti* possesses a special significance and should deserve a detailed analysis.

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It would be interesting to know if such summaries or adaptations of the Kauṭalyan science were prepared in Hindi, Tamil and other Indian languages in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The first Bengali summary in the form of a *nibandha* is the *Hindu Rājanīti* of Madhusūdana Bhaṭṭāchārya of Nadia published at Calcutta in 1904 (as Vol. I. of his *Ratnamālā*). This work is, as we have seen, made up of translations into Bengali of diverse original Sanskrit texts on political thought. The treatment is topical. The originals are quoted in the footnotes.

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It is worth while to mention that not only the Kauṭalyan science but Kauṭalya himself was reborn in "the ideas of 1905" and that since then *bhāṣyas* and *nibandhas* on the basis of Kauṭalya have been the order of the day in India and the world along "modern" methods. Nay, more. For the last thirty years or so Kauṭalya has been undergoing comparison not only with the Western ancients and "medievals" from Plato and Aristotle to Macchiavelli, Hobbes and Frederick the Great, but with the moderns also from Kant, Fichte and Comte down to Bradley, Bosanquet, Croce, and the latest exponents of *justice*, *la puissance supérieure de l'Etat*, *Staatsräson*, *Geopolitik*, and "economic planning" in Eur-America.¹⁸

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¹⁸ U. Redanò: *Lo Stato Etico* (Florence 1927). E. Lasbax: *La Cité Humaine* (Paris, 1927) vol. III. F. Meinecke: *Die Idee der Staatsräson* (Munich 1925), K. Haushofer: *Die Geopolitik der Pan-Ideen* (Berlin 1931), and *Raumüberwindende Mächte* (Leipzig 1934), B. Breloer: *Staatsverwaltung im alten Indien* Vol. III. Part. I. (Leipzig 1934). For "Kauṭalya, Economic Planning and Climatology" see *supra*, pp. 329-331, 343-350.

Cites (2)

Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Śukranīti (Śukrācārya) — Śukrācārya, Sanskrit