Kautilya
Kautilya understood politics essentially in administrative terms.
Kautilya was in favor of strong king. It may me doubted whether he
was in favor of an absolute monarchy because in his state the king
had to work under so many restrictions
It is unrighteous to do an act which causes popular fury. Kautilya is
respectful of popular fury not because of any moral considerations,
but because as an exponent of real politik he accepts the
substantial importance of keeping people happy.
He adds, when people are impoverished, they become greedy,
greed makes them disaffected, when disaffected they voluntarily
go to the side of the enemy and destroy their own master.
Hence no king should give room to such causes as would bring
impoverishment or greed among his people.
He says, “in the happiness of his subjects lies the happiness of the
king, in their welfare, his welfare, whatever pleases him, he shall not
consider good, but whatever pleases his subjects he shall consider
good.
Kautilya is convinced that the state is sovereign and with it the king must be
supreme.
He gives seven elements of the state-
King
Minister
Country
Treasury
Fort
Army
Friends and Enemy
The king is above all other elements. Kautilya declares that a good king can
improve even the most defective constituents. The king makes or mars other
elements.
Kautilya even makes a categorical assertion about the transcendental
character of the kings authority-
The king alone selects his officials, rewards them, punishes them, endows
prosperity on anyone he likes.
He tends to emphasize that the king derives his authority not so much from
popular contract as from divine benediction that makes any idea of revolt
against the king doubly difficult.
Kautilya says that the kingship is a result of the
escape from the state of nature in which laws
of jungle prevailed. As a result, any state is
better than no state which throws people
back into anarchy.
So ardent is his partiality towards a strong king
that he even pleads for modification of social
customs and practices by royal interventions,
though it should not always be at variance
with the rest of the society. Kautilya’s king has
last say in all the matters
Idea of a welfare State
In kautilya’s book the idea of a welfare state is
repeated with great force. Acoording to him the
king must ensure that the people of the four castes
and four orders of life keep to their respective,
respective duties and occupations.
He was convinced that a vicious and unrighteous
king who ignores the welfare of his subjects would
fall a victim to popular fury or become vulnerable
to enemies.
The idea of a positive state is taken up and the
king is authorized to create conditions for a good
life by doing various tasks assigned to him.
Foreign Relations
It is important because no state exists in isolation.
Every state is competing with every other for land.
This this the natural order where none is content
with what he already has. State should be
capable of defending itself and also inflicting
damage on others when need arises.
Kautilya mentions of “chakravartin” and says, if a
king is to become chakravartin he must have all
these three assets
Military power
Financial prudence
Wisdom
Division of human knowledge
into four sciences
Philosophy- deals with reasoned argument and
makes one study in weal and woe.
The sacred canon- knowledge of four castes and
their respective duties, the performance of which
leads to heaven
The science of Political Economy- better
agriculture and production of metals and forest
products
The science of politics- it is the most important of
all the four kinds of knowledge because it leads to
acquisition and preservation of them all.
conclusion
Kautilya has discussed almost all political variables
which might lead to the rise and decline of the
state, including influence of stars, mystical
numbers, religious superstition, and social practice.
It was his singular achievement to weave the
influence of his geopolitical factors into his
science of administration which is truly inductive in
character.
The context in which Arthashastra was written,
Kautilya was trying to create single handedly,
order out of chaos, peace out of war, a public
state out of a corrupt one. This is why his ideas
were extremely complex.
