Text of Arthashastra
Paper 2: Kautilya Arthashastra
In the text of Arthashastra, ‘the state is neither a police State nor merely a tax gathering State’. Comment
Arthashastra is a treatise written by Kautilya, which deals with the administrative system of the Mauryan Empire.
Yogakshema Principle:
The text of Arthashastra talks about Yogakshema - the welfare of the people. Yogak means successful accomplishment and Shema means enjoyment.
In the happiness of the subjects, lies the happiness of the king
Also called the Compassionate Monarchy
FEATURES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE SUGGESTED BY KAUTILYA:
RAJADHARMA - a king should follow RAJADHARMA by ensuring the social order. The poor and the vulnerable are taken care of by the king.
"in the happiness of the subjects lies the happiness of the king "
there were codes of conduct for both the King as well as Amatya - DHARMANIYAM - rules to be followed.
The King should not show kopa or anger against his people. - ensuring stability
The King was made in charge of the safety, law, and order of the empire. In case of any robbery or theft, the king was made responsible for it. The money was compensated by the king.
all the officials including the king were prescribed specific salaries. He differentiated between the personal income of the official and the money the official was in charge of.
Kautilya had identified 40 types of corruption (Santanam committee, prevention of corruption act mentions only 28 types of corruption )
Kautilya had prescribed compensation even for the loss of crops when an army marches over the fields.
The empire had to take care of the people during calamities. To provide them health care, he prescribed control over dishonest traders, to protect people from adulterated products. Similar to today's consumer protection act.
Thus above features shows that the State prescribed by Kautilya in Arthashastra was more than just a police state or a tax-collecting state.