The ARTHASHASTRA

by Chanakya

Dharma not only signifies an absolute and immutable concept of righteousness but also includes the idea of duty which every human being owes to oneself, to one’s ancestors, to society as a whole and to universal order.

To the extent that society respected dharma, society protected itself; to the extent society offended it, society undermined itself.

Five different schools of thought—those of Brihaspati, Ushanas, Prachetasa Manu, 3 Parasara and Ambhi—are referred to, often because Kautilya disagrees with the advice given by them. Some individual teachers of high repute, like Vishalaksha and Bharadwaja, are also quoted.

A tax, frequently mentioned in the Arthashastra, is vyaji. From the context, it seems to have been applied both as a sales tax and a purchase tax. On balance, it is better to translate it as a transaction tax,

the four methods of dispute settlement (sama, dana, bheda and danda).

Some, like {7.13.38} and {7.6.35,36} are incomprehensible; the attempt made here to give them meaning can, at best, be only an educated guess.

In any case, we find it hard to believe, in this day and age, that a ‘mixture of the lizard and the house-lizard causes leprosy’ {14.1.20}! We can take it for granted that society in Kautilyan times believed in magic and occult practices

Though Kautilya wrote long after the time of Buddha, who died in 486 BC, the state of society portrayed in the Arthashastra is, in the main, pre-Buddhistic.

On the other hand, the norms under which Hindu society has functioned for the last two millenia are those of the Smritis; the earliest and most important of these, the Manusmriti 27 was codified sometime in the first two centuries AD.

The social customs that existed in Kautilya’s times but went out of practice a few centuries later are quite significant. In Kautilyan times, a husband and wife could divorce each other on grounds of mutual incompatibility. Widows could remarry; so could women whose husbands had been abroad for a long time. Eating meat or drinking or taking up arms were not prohibited for Brahmins.

Kautilya did take a cynical view of humanity and his teachings are based on the principle that no one can be trusted.

On brahmacharya, the student phase, respect for the guru is emphasized throughout.

Since the dharma of a householder was to sacrifice his own pleasures for the sake of those dependent on him {1.3.9}, abandoning a dependent, without due cause, was a serious offence;

Vanaprasthas, forest recluses, were allotted parts of forest for their habitation and could take salt free of charge for their own consumption {2.12.33}.

Astrologers accompanied the king on military expeditions and were used to encourage their own troops and frighten the enemy’s on the eve of battle {13.3.44}. The list of such professionals include: kartantika (soothsayer), naimittika (reader of omens), mauhurtika (astrologer) and ikshanika (intuitionist)

the lowest government salary was only 60 panas a year {5.3.17}, making the ratio of the highest to the lowest paid 800 to 1.

The lowest monetary fine was one-eighth of a pana, for making a public road impassable with dirt, water or mud {2.36.26} and the highest, 5000 panas levied on a courtesan disobeying an order to attend on someone {2.27.19}, a ratio of 4000 to 1.

100 panas was the fine for both failing to help a neighbour and, conversely, interfering without reason in the affairs of a neighbour!

Anyone giving a large feast was asked to make special drainage arrangements for washing

Entertainers were permitted to make fun of the customs of the region, castes or families and the practices and love affairs of individuals. However, they were advised not to praise excessively anyone in return for large gifts

The overall picture is thus one of women being placed in a subservient role but given adequate protection to ensure that this did not lead to total exploitation. How well the safeguards operated in practice can only be a matter for conjecture. It is possible that gradual deterioration, over centuries, in the legal protection guaranteed to women in the Arthashastra, led to their being given a lower status in later codifications like the Manusmriti.