The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c14.s2.12

c14.s2.12

The birth of *nîti-śâstra*, i. e., political science (science of punishment, “sanction” and sovereignty, or *danda-nîti* as it is sometimes called) is, like the origin of all other Hindu *vidyâs*¹ (sciences, known to be thirty two in number) and *kalâs* (arts, known to be sixty four), obscurely believed to be Minervan, or, in other words, divine. The conjectural account of its dim beginnings brings it down to Dr. Śukra as the last of the *riṣis* (sages) who cared to set his seal on civic, economic and political studies. Formerly, says the *Mahâbhârata*,² for the protection of creatures the science of polity was delivered by the Lord Himself. As it happened to be a huge volume Siva (a god) epitomized it in ten thousand sections. His work is known as the *Vaiśâlâkṣa* from his name *Viśâlâkṣa* (the “large-eyed”). An abridgment in five thousand sections was afterwards made by Indra (another god) and in three thousand by Brihaspati, a super-man or *riṣi*. This last was further boiled down to one thousand by Śukra. All this reduction in size was necessary because art is long and “life is short”. The story of this abridgment following abridgment is told by the compiler of the *Śukra-nîti*³ also. “For the good of men”, as we read, “Brahmâ” (the highest God) had spoken that treatise which contained ten million verses. By a process of selection the essence (*sâra*) of that *nîti-śâstra* has been abridged by Vaśiṣtha and others like myself for the increase of prosperity of the rulers of the earth and of others whose life is of short span”.