Book contents
- The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Ideas in Context
- The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Arthaśāstra Historiography
- Chapter 3 The Resegmentation of the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 4 Citation and Attribution
- Chapter 5 The Deep Structure of the Text
- Chapter 6 The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 7 The Politics of the Daṇḍanīti
- Chapter 8 Varṇadharma in the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 9 Statecraft, Law, and Religion in Ancient India
- Appendix I Other Theories of Composition
- Appendix II Chapter Colophons
- Appendix III End Verses at Variance with Preceding Prose
- Appendix IV Possible Integration between Prose and End Verses
- Appendix V Proposed Interpolations at the End of Chapters
- Appendix VI Possible Instances of Unattributed Citation
- Appendix VII Proposed Interpolations Depending on Citations
- Appendix VIII Other Proposed Interpolations
- Appendix IX Manu’s Seventh Chapter and the Daṇḍanīti
- Appendix X Brāhmaṇical Privileges
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Index
- Ideas in Context
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 June 2019
- The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Ideas in Context
- The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Arthaśāstra Historiography
- Chapter 3 The Resegmentation of the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 4 Citation and Attribution
- Chapter 5 The Deep Structure of the Text
- Chapter 6 The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 7 The Politics of the Daṇḍanīti
- Chapter 8 Varṇadharma in the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 9 Statecraft, Law, and Religion in Ancient India
- Appendix I Other Theories of Composition
- Appendix II Chapter Colophons
- Appendix III End Verses at Variance with Preceding Prose
- Appendix IV Possible Integration between Prose and End Verses
- Appendix V Proposed Interpolations at the End of Chapters
- Appendix VI Possible Instances of Unattributed Citation
- Appendix VII Proposed Interpolations Depending on Citations
- Appendix VIII Other Proposed Interpolations
- Appendix IX Manu’s Seventh Chapter and the Daṇḍanīti
- Appendix X Brāhmaṇical Privileges
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Index
- Ideas in Context
Summary
Introduces the dominant paradigm that the sovereign power of kings was limited by the sacred law of dharma in ancient India. Explores the difficulties in analyzing this relationship due to the systematic overdetermination of religion in the reconstruction of India's past. Introduces and analyzes the political theology of varṇāśramadharma, "The Sacred Law of the Social Classes and Modes of Life," in which dharma's supremacy over the king's political power is encoded. Shows that the Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya is uniquely positioned to examine religion and politics and investigate the salience of varṇāśramadharma to politics in the period. Introduces higher textual criticism and explains the method of the study, which is to establish what material was original to the text and what was added later and to use that distinction to demonstrate the original independence of the statecraft tradition from varṇāśramadharma.
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- The History of the ArthasastraSovereignty and Sacred Law in Ancient India, pp. 1 - 27Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019