The Arthashastra (IAST: Arthaśāstra) is an ancient Indian Hindu treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya[1] and Viṣhṇugupta,[2] who are traditionally identified with Chāṇakya (c. 350–283 BC),[3] who was a scholar at Takshashila and later the prime minister of the Maurya Empire.
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The original identification of Kautilya or Vishnugupta with the Mauryan minister Chānakya would date the Arthaśāstra to the 4th century BCE.[4] However, certain affinities with smrtis and references that would be anachronistic for the 4th century BC suggest assigning the Arthaśāstra to the 2nd through 4th centuries CE.[5] Thomas R. Trautmann and I.W. Mabbett concur that the Arthaśāstra is a composition from no earlier than the 2nd century AD, but based on earlier material.[6] K.C. Ojha puts forward the view that the traditional identification of Vishnugupta with Kautilya was caused by a confusion of editor and originator and suggests that Vishnugupta is in fact a redactor of the original work of Kautilya.[4] Thomas Burrow goes even further and says that Chānakya and Kautilya are actually two different people.[7] The end of this treatise Arthaśāstra, however, says: "This Sástra has been made by him who from intolerance (of misrule) quickly rescued the scriptures and the science of weapons and the earth which had passed to the Nanda king." More recently, Mital[8] concluded that the methods used by Trautmann were inadequate to prove his claims, and therefore "there exists no direct evidence against Kautilya being the sole author of The Arthashastra, nor evidence that it was not written during the 4th century BCE."[9]
The text was influential until the 12th century, when it disappeared. It was discovered in 1904 by R. Shamasastry, who published it in 1909 and the first English translation in 1915.[10]
Different scholars have translated the word "arthaśāstra" in different ways.
Roger Boesche describes the Arthaśāstra as "a book of political realism, a book analysing how the political world does work and not very often stating how it ought to work, a book that frequently discloses to a king what calculating and sometimes brutal measures he must carry out to preserve the state and the common good."[13]
Centrally, Arthaśāstra argues for an autocracy managing an efficient and solid economy. It discusses the ethics of economics and the duties and obligations of a king.[14] The scope of Arthaśāstra is, however, far wider than statecraft, and it offers an outline of the entire legal and bureaucratic framework for administering a kingdom, with a wealth of descriptive cultural detail on topics such as mineralogy, mining and metals, agriculture, animal husbandry, medicine and the use of wildlife.[15] The Arthaśāstra also focuses on issues of welfare (for instance, redistribution of wealth during a famine) and the collective ethics that hold a society together.
Because of its harsh political pragmatism, the Arthashastra has often been compared to Machiavelli's The Prince.
Is there any other book that talks so openly about when using violence is justified? When assassinating an enemy is useful? When killing domestic opponents is wise? How one uses secret agents? When one needs to sacrifice one's own secret agent? How the king can use women and children as spies and even assassins? When a nation should violate a treaty and invade its neighbor? Kautilya — and to my knowledge only Kautilya — addresses all those questions. In what cases must a king spy on his own people? How should a king test his ministers, even his own family members, to see if they are worthy of trust? When must a king kill a prince, his own son, who is heir to the throne? How does one protect a king from poison? What precautions must a king take against assassination by one's own wife? When is it appropriate to arrest a troublemaker on suspicion alone? When is torture justified? At some point, every reader wonders: Is there not one question that Kautilya found immoral, too terrible to ask in a book? No, not one. And this is what brings a frightful chill. But this is also why Kautilya was the first great, unrelenting political realist.—Boesche (2002, p. 1)
Thus, Max Weber observed
Truly radical 'Machiavellianism', in the popular sense of that word, is classically expressed in Indian literature in the Arthasastra of Kautilya (written long before the birth of Christ, ostensibly in the time of Chandragupta): compared to it, Machiavelli’s The Prince is harmless.—Max Weber, Politics as a Vocation (1919)[16]
However, the scope of the work is broader than usual accounts indicate, and in it can also be found compassion for the poor, for slaves, and for women. For instance he advocates what is now known as land reform, and elsewhere ensures the protection of the chastity of female slaves.[17]
Arthashastra is divided into 15 books:
Arthashastra deals in detail with the qualities and disciplines required for a Rajarshi - a wise and virtuous king.
According to Kautilya, a Rajarshi is one who:
Such a disciplined king should: -
Kautilya says that artha (Sound Economies) is the most important; dharma & kama are both dependent on it. A Rajarishi shall always respect those councillors and purohitas who warn him of the dangers of transgressing the limits of good conduct, reminding him sharply (as with a goad) of the times prescribed for various duties and caution him even when he errs in private.
If the king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic. If he is slack (and lazy in performing his duties), the subjects will also be lax and thereby eat into his wealth. Besides, a lazy king will easily fall into the hands of enemies. Hence the Rajarishi should himself always be energetic. He shall divide the day and the night, each into eight periods of one and half hours, and perform his duties as follows:
| First 1½ hrs. after sunrise | Receive reports on defence, revenue, expenditure |
| Second 1½ hrs. after sunrise | Public audiences, to hear petitions of city & country people |
| Third 1½ hrs. after sunrise & Last 1½ hrs. before noon | Receive revenues & tributes; appoint ministers and other high officials & allot tasks to them |
| First 1½ hrs. after noon | Write letters & dispatches, confer with councillors, receive secret information from spies |
| Second 1½ hrs. after noon | Personal: recreation, time for contemplation |
| Third 1½ hrs. after noon & Last 1½ hrs. before sunset | Inspect & review forces; Consult with Chief of Defence |
The day shall end with evening prayers.
| First 1½ hrs. after sunset | Interview with secret agents |
| Second 1½ hrs. after sunset | Personal: bath, meals, study |
| Third & Fourth 1½ hrs. after sunset & First 1½ hrs. after midnight | Retire to the bed chamber to the sound of music, sleep |
| Second 1½ hrs. after midnight | After waking to the sound of music, meditate on political matters & on work to be done |
| Third 1½ hrs. after midnight | Consult with councilors, send out spies |
| Last 1½ hrs. before sunrise | Religious, household & personal duties, meetings with his teacher, adviser on rituals, purohitas, personal physician, chief cooks & astrologer |
Or some other time table which suits the king.
Hence the king shall be ever active in the management of the economy. The root of wealth is (economic) activity and lack of it (brings) material distress. In the absence of (fruitful economic) activity, both current prosperity and future growth will be destroyed. A king can achieve the desired objectives & abundance of riches by undertaking (productive) economic activity.
An ideal king is one who has the highest qualities of leadership, intellect, energy & personal attributes.
The qualities of leadership (which attracts followers) are: birth in a noble family, good fortune, intellect & prowess, association with elders, being righteous, truthful, resolute, enthusiastic & disciplined, not breaking his promises, showing gratitude (to those who help him), having lofty aims, not being dilatory, being stronger than neighbouring kings & having ministers of high quality.
The qualities of intellect are: desire to learn, listening (to others), grasping, retaining, understanding thoroughly and reflecting on knowledge, rejecting false views and adhering to the true ones. An energetic king is one who is valorous, determined, quick, and dexterous. As regards personal attributes, an ideal king should be eloquent, bold and endowed with sharp intellect, a strong memory and a keen mind. He should be amenable to guidance. He should be well trained in all the arts and be able to lead the army. He should be just in rewarding and punishing. He should have the foresight to avail himself of the opportunities (by choosing) the right time, place and type of action. He should know how to govern in normal times and in times of crisis. He should know when to fight and when to make peace, when to lie in wait, when to observe treaties and when to strike at an enemy's weakness. He should preserve his dignity at all times and not laugh in an undignified manner. He should be sweet in speech, look straight at people and avoid frowning. He should eschew passion, anger, greed, obstinacy, fickleness and backbiting. He should conduct himself in accordance with advice of elders.
Kautilya says - Quarrels among people can be resolved by winning over the leaders or by removing the cause of the quarrel - people fighting among themselves help the king by their mutual rivalry. Conflicts (for power) within the royal family, on the other hand, bring about harassment and destruction to the people and double the exertion that is required to end such conflicts. Hence internal strife in the royal family for power is more damaging than quarrels among their subjects. The king must be well versed in discretion and shrewd in judgement.
Vices are corruptions due to ignorance and indiscipline; an unlearned man does not perceive the injurious consequences of his vices. He summarizes: subject to the qualification that gambling is most dangerous in cases where power is shared, the vice with the most serious consequence is addiction to drink, followed by, lusting after women, gambling, and lastly hunting.
Importance of self-discipline Discipline is of two kinds - inborn and acquired. (There must be an innate capacity for self discipline for the reasons given below). Instruction & training can promote discipline only in a person capable of benefiting from them, people incapable of (natural) self-discipline do not benefit. Learning imparts discipline only to those who have the following mental facilities - obedience to a teacher, desire and ability to learn, capacity to retain what is learnt, understanding what is learnt, reflecting on it and (finally) ability to make inferences by deliberating on the knowledge acquired. Those who are devoid of such mental faculties are not benefited (by any amount of training) One who will be a king should acquire discipline and follow it strictly in life by learning the sciences from authoritative teachers.
With improving his self-discipline, he should always associate with learned elders, for in them alone has discipline its firm roots. For a trained intellect ensues yoga (successful application), from yoga comes self-possession. This is what is meant by efficiency in acquiring knowledge. Only a king, who is wise, disciplined, devoted to a just governing of the subjects & conscious of the welfare of all beings, will enjoy the earth unopposed.
Kautilya recommended seven strategies in dealing with neighboring powers to Chandragupta Maurya.[18]
The strategies are:
A conducive atmosphere is necessary for the state's economy to thrive. This requires that a state's law and order be maintained. Arthashastra specifies fines and punishments to support strict enforcement of laws. The science of law enforcement is also called Dandaniti.
The Mauryas firstly looked at forests as a resource. For them, the most important forest product was the elephant. Military might in those times depended not only upon horses and men but also battle-elephants; these played a role in the defeat of Seleucus, Alexander's governor of the Punjab. The Mauryas sought to preserve supplies of elephants since it was more cost and time-effective to catch, tame and train wild elephants than raise them. Kautilya's Arthashastra unambiguously specifies the responsibilities of officials such as the Protector of the Elephant Forests:[19]
On the border of the forest, he should establish a forest for elephants guarded by foresters. The Superintendent should with the help of guards...protect the elephants whether along on the mountain, along a river, along lakes or in marshy tracts...They should kill anyone slaying an elephant.—Arthashastra
The Arthashastra also reveals that the Mauryas designated specific forests to protect supplies of timber, as well as lions and tigers, for skins. Elsewhere the Protector of Animals also worked to eliminate thieves, tigers and other predators to render the woods safe for grazing cattle.[19]
The exhaustive account of the economic ideas embedded in the Arthasastra has been given by Ratan Lal Basu[20] and by many renowned Arthasastra-experts in an Edited Volume by Sen & Basu[21] This book contains papers presented by authors from all over the world in the International Conference held in 1902 at the Oriental Research Institute, Mysore, India to celebrate the Centenary of discovery of the manuscript of the Arthasastra by R. Shamasastry.