Life And Times

Till about the dawn of the twentieth century, Chanakya’s Arthashastra and his other works had remained in oblivion for modern scholars. The singular credit for the discovery of this 2500 year old manuscript on statecraft and political economy goes to Dr Rudrapatnam Shamashastry of Mysore, who not only unearthed the text but heralded a new era in Indian administration and statecraft. At the same time he also helped refresh the western minds that Indian thought was not entirely geared to discovering the ‘other-worldly’ merits.

The revelation of this text has since been compelling enough for thinkers researching on ancient India to seriously take up works on Nitishastra or science pertaining to norms of social, political and legal behaviour. Arthashastra, by Chanakya’s own admission in the chapter Tantrayukti of the text (Adhikarana 15.1), serves two purposes. It is a means to generate wealth (vrittisadhana) and a way (upaya) of maintaining the well being of the earth (prithvi). Hence as a study on eudaemonia, Arthashastra overshadows other related works on Niti.

From out of the comprehensive researches on this subject, the project, Chanakya Today by Dipavali Sen, an economist by profession and Sanskritist by choice, creates a niche of its own. Her target audience happens to be ‘young scholars’ in search of quick ready information on the life and times of Chanakya as well as the texts authored by him. This particular book is actually a three-in-one composition containing Arthashastra, Chanakya Niti and Chanakya Sutra.