Understanding Dharma and Artha in Statecraft through Kautilya's Arthahastra

This is the third monograph in a series on Kautilya's Arthashastra. The first monograph titled One Hundred Years of Kautilya's Arthasastra (2013) made the case for a deeper study of the text. In the second monograph, Kautilya's Arthashastra: Contemporary Issues and Comparison (2015), the text was critically examined in order to explain, compare and understand it vis-à-vis contemporary issues. Both monographs were pivoted on the concept of artha, and made only a passing reference to dharma, the foundation of political virtue or ethical and moral issues in statecraft. Dharma is significant as it regulates artha in the Indian tradition. This monograph engages with and explores the concepts of dharma and artha in Kautilya's Arthashastra and also the Mahabharata, and provides a few contemporary examples. It is hoped that both the policy and scholarship of international law and politics will be enriched by this work, and the trilogy as a whole, from the Indian heritage of indigenous historical knowledge.