Quintessence of Arthsastra and Ancient Economy,

Kautilya Arth-shastra (Treatise on the Science of Economics and politics) are given to show that the ancient Indian thinkers were not uninterested in practical and theoretical problems of economics and politics. The detailed discussion about the nature of sovereignty, representative institutions, peace and war, the validity of punishment, the principles of taxation, the police and moral functions of the state, etc. indicate that the political thinkers of ancient India combined idealism with a high degree of realism. The discovery of Atharvaveda was an epoch-making event in the political literature. Kautilya lays stress on the supreme importance of Arth in the world. The Sastra’s condition of righteousness is wealth. Arth is the sustenance or livelihood of man: in other words it means the earth inhabited by men. Vishnugupta popularly known as Kautilya by his intelligence won the earth for Chandergupta and churned out the ocean of Arthsastra, the nectar of polity.