Vibrant India, Sanketi Studies-7

2009·100 MB·English

by  Dr T V Venkatachala Shastry

In the Memory of
Maha¯maho¯pa¯dhya¯ya, Arthas´a¯stravis´a¯rada,
Vidya¯lan˙ka¯ra, Panditara¯ja
. .
Dr. R. Shamasastry
Who brought to light in modern times
Kautilya’s Arthas´a¯stra
.
editing and publishing it hundred years ago (1909-2009)
SANKETI STUDIES
About900 years ago, the Sanketi communitymigratedfrom Shapattor (now in Tamil
Nadu) to Karnataka under the guidance of that great chaste and virtuous woman Nacha-
ramma. To commemorate that event many programmers are being held in different parts
of the old Mysore State. On this occassion, abundant material that has been so far col-
lected about the communityis being published. Research, documentationand consolida-
tion of the material are the main features of this series, i.e., ‘Sanketi Studies’. The Ad-
hyayana Kendra (Study Centre) is grateful to the family members of Dr. R.Shamasastry,
the members of the publication committee, and all those who have evinced keen interest
in thistaskand helpedus invariousways.
Theriverofeternalknowledgehasnobanks. Itremainsunpolluted. Onlypeoplewith
zeal and commitment can have a glimpse of it. Then only anyone can be enlightened.
Thatisthepoweroflearningandknowledge. Whenwerealiseourworththenonlywecan
evolveand grow. By evolvingonecan becomemorehumane,generous, andintellectual.
‘Sanketi’ - is a unit for deep study. It is an eternal search of human nature in totality.
The series widen the horizons of the search. When it marches you find the realities but
there is a quest for ideals in its march. This is but a small attempt to depict the struggles,
trials and tribulations of the Sanketi community which has left an idelible impression on
thehistory.
This work, Vibrant India, is a collection of research papers of Maha¯maho¯pa¯dhya¯ya
Dr. R. Shamasastry,publishedinvariousjournalsandvolumes. It isthedreamcometrue
ofSamudayaAdhyayanaKendra,Mysorewhichhadvisualisedthisafewyearsago. This
scholarly work is the result of the able editorial skill exercised by Dr. T.V. Venkatachala
Sastry,aseniorscholarwithararedistinction,ofourtimes. Thisisthefirstvolumeofthe
series of papers publishedby the great Savant a few decades ago. Kaut.ilya’s Arthas´astra
which brought name and fame to Dr. R. Shamasastry was published hundred years ago;
2009 is theCentenary year ofits publicationand ithas been ahappy coincidenceto have
this work, VibrantIndia, as acommemorativevolumenow. We are grateful to Dr. Sastry
and his associates and at the same time we express our gratitude to the band of workers
who have struggledalthrough,day and night,to see thework in a fine, finishedform like
theoneonhand.
Mysore B.S. Pranatartiharan
06-06-2009
Maha¯maho¯pa¯dhya¯ya Dr. R. Shamasastry
Manyyearsago,HisHighnessSriKrishnaRajaWodeyarIV,whowasrulingoverthe
then Mysore state, once visitedGermany (regnal period 1895-1940). There he visited an
university. He introduced himself at the university to a professor as the king of Mysore
(aprincelystateinIndiancontinent). Withevidentcuriositytheprofessorinstantlyasked
him, “Are you from Dr. Shamasastry’s Mysore?”. Then the king replied “Yes, yes...We
are.” After he returned to Mysore, he sent for Shamasastry and asked him to meet him
at the palace. When Shamasastry met him, “Mr. Shamasastry, you are our subject in
our kingdom, but we are your subject in a foreign country,” said the king with a laugh.
Supremely pleased Sastry,expressinghisgratitude,salutedtheKing.
Who is this Shamasastry?
The Kaveri is the sacred river of Karnataka, the land of Kannada people and their lan-
guage. On oneofits banksissituatedthevillageRudrapatna. Thisisin ArakalgudTaluk
of Hassan district. In the past it was like an Agraha¯ra. It was the home of several edu-
catedBrahminfamilies,thathadmigratedfromTamilnadu. Centuriesago,manyofthose
settlers had movedout in search of jobs and livelihood. Some families have settled there
itself. TheBrahmins belongingtothosefamiliesareknownasSan˙ke¯tis.
Be.t.tadapura San˙ke¯ti is a subsect among the Sanketis. Shamasastry was born in a
family that belonged to this subsect. He was born on 12th January in the year 1868. His
father was Venkataramaiah and Puttamma was his mother; Gopalaiah and Ramaswamy
were twoyoungerbrothersofhim.
Shamasastry’s ancestors were vedic scholars and strict followers of tradition. As
MysorecityopenedallthefacilitiestoSanskritlearning,Sastryfollowingthetraditionof
hisancestors,walkedallthewaytoMysorefromhisvillagewhenhewasjustthirteen. He
took his first lessons in Sanskrit languageand literatureand scriptures(works ofs´a¯stras)
from one Kallikote Sastry. Later he continued his studies in Maharaja Sanskrit School
(Pa¯.thas´a¯la¯). In1891,attheageof23, hegothisVidwat degreeinliterature.
Having keenly observed Shamasastry’s Sanskrit scholarship and eloquence, the then
Dewanof MysorestateSirK. Seshadri Iyer arranged forSastry tostayin his ownhouse.
TheDewan’swifeSmt. Dharmammausedtolearnabout herfavouriteSanskrit worksby
making him read them for her. The couple also had evinced keen interest in his studies
and examination. When hewasrelishingthisbenevolentpatronage oftheDewancouple,
Sastry strongly felt a desire to learn English. Sastry, being a personal tutor to Dewan in
Sanskrit and in the studiesof IndianPhilosophy,he was very helpful to him. The Dewan
helped Sastry in this regard also. With his support Sastry studied in Bangalore Central
x VibrantIndia
College choosing English, Sanskrit as languages and Physics as an optional subject. In
1899,hesuccessfullycompletedtheB.A., degreeofMadrasUniversity. Mr. Iyerthought
of finding a suitable job for Sastry, came forward to help him. He knew what Sastry’s
interests were. He wrote a letter to the education department indicating that if there was
any provision, Sastry should be given a position at the Mysore Oriental Library (Now
the Oriental Research Institute). Dewan thoughtas Sastry had gained proficiancy both in
Sanskrit and Englishlanguages,Oriental librarywastheidealplaceforhim.
Sastry was appointed as the librarian of the Mysore Oriental Library, in 1900, the
very nextyear, hegot throughhisB.A degreecourse. Afterhis graduation,in thelibrary,
he got invaluablecontact, encouragement and guidance of theInstitute’sfirst curator and
scholar Sri A. Mahadeva Sastry, B.A., and the first pandit and an erudite scholar Sri
PanditaratnamKasturiRangacharya. Withtheirco-operationSastrystartededitingworks
for the institute’s publication series, and along-side he started writing scholarly articles
related to Indianliteratureand culture.
The Fame of Arthas´a¯stra
By this time, Sastry had earned a thorough knowledge of the myriad areas of the Indian
studies. He had acquainted himself with Indian ancient scripts; Vedas and vedic astron-
omy were his favourite subjects of study. He published a major article on the origin of
devana¯gari¯alphabet in Indian Antiquary in 1905. In 1908, he wrote a booklet namely
Gava¯mayana about thevediceraand hehimselfpublishedthebook.
The major work assigned to Sastry at the Mysore Oriental Library was, to prepare
an index for the manuscripts of Sanskrit language that had been already collected and to
scrutinise the manuscripts that were recently collected. He carried out both the works
with earnestness and great competence. When, once he was verifying some Sanskrit
manuscripts,thatbelongedtothelibrary,heaccidentallycameacrossthemanuscriptofa
treatisethatdealt withstatecraft whichwasin practiceinAncient India.
It happened to be the manuscript of the famous work Arthas´a¯stra authored by Kau-
tilya. This work as well as a commentary on a part of that work by Bhatta swamy, both
came intothelibrarysometimeago througha Tanjorescholar.
Mr. Sastry identified immediately that Kautilya’s Arthas´a¯stra as a seminal text with
source material to acquire a thorough inwardness into Ancient Indian polity. He contin-
uously copied the manuscript and edited with great efficacy. Later he also published it
throughMysoreOrientalLibrarybookseriesintheyear1909,exactlyacenturyearlierto
thecurrent year2009.
The language of Arthas´a¯stra was obscure and complex. The text demanded interpre-
tationsoftechnicaltermsandtermsthatwererelatedtothesubjectsviz,politicalscience,
Maha¯maho¯pa¯dhya¯yaDr. R.Shamasastry xi
economics, law, commerce and military science etc. It was not possible for one either
to read or to understand Kautilya’s work unless one was familiar with terms from these
disciplines. Mr. Sastrymadestrongeffortsto studythetextand masterit himself.
He felt that people of India as well as people of different parts of the world and who
do not know Sanskrit should understand this precious work of Kautilya. So he started
to translate the work into English, in 1905. He published the translation serially in the
periodical namely Indian Antiquaryand Mysore Review. As it was expected, this trans-
lation drew the attention of India as well as the scholars of other parts of the world. Be-
ing inspired by this encouragement and exhortation Shamasastry, completely translated
Arthas´a¯stra. Havingcompletedthework, hepublisheditin1915,withaforeward byDr.
J.F.Fleet,arenownedIndologist. Dr. Fleetinhisforewordeulogizedtheexemplarywork
ofSastryandevendescribedhimasthediscovererofArthas´a¯stra. Dr. Fleetwhoadmired
thepains–takingworkcarriedoutbySastryalsocreditedhimtheachievementofbringing
it out in a language that even non–Sanskrit readers could appreciate. He felt that words
fail to communicatethegreatnessoftheservices rendered by Shamasastry.
AfterSastrypublishedtheoriginalworkanditstranslation,manyscholarsofOriental
studies of European and American origin, congratulated him; as a result of it, Sastry
wrote many articles of great scholarship on politics and financial policy and commerce
etc., of the Mauryan age, got them published in many periodicals that belonged to the
different parts of the country. Some of the articles were also published in the felicitation
volumes brought out in the name of reputed scholars. In a short period of time, he came
to be renowned as a scholar who could speak authoritatively about significant aspects of
Ancient Indianpoliticalthought.
Now let us try to get the glimpses of the Arthas´a¯stra of Kautilya, which became
famous throughR. Shamasastry.
Arthas´a¯stra was written by Kautilya. He was also known as Vishnugupta, and
Chanakya. He belonged to the Brahmin family of Takshasila (Taxila). There is also a
conviction that he made the last king of the Nanda dynasty descend from the throne and
installed Chandragupta Maurya in his place. And then, he became the chief-minister
of Chandragupta and worked hard to establish order in his state. He wrote his work
Arthashastra in about 325-296 B. C.; some are of the opinion that he wrote it in 3rd
century A. D.
It is established that Kautilya’s Arthas´a¯stra has decisively influenced the shaping of
Indian politics, religion and social life, and also has its effects on the similar works that
came afterwards. Public administration, king’s duty, officers’ conduct, granting justice,
warpoliciesandvariedausteritiesofsociallifeandmanymoresubjectsarenarratedhere.
Thebookdoesn’tjustpreachormoralizeregularethics,itisaguidetoabenovolentprince
who enjoystheconfidenceofhissubjectstoruleefficiently.
xii VibrantIndia
There are 15 adhikaranas(books) in Arthas´a¯stra. The subjects mentioned here are
roughlyin thefollowingorder.
1. Fostering of princes and their education, details about ministers and courtiers;
detailsregardingmanagementofespionageetc.,
2. A vigilancesquad tosuperviseadministration.
3. Implementationoflaw.
4. Restraining lawbreakers.
5. Collection of tax, collection in kind from agriculturists and craftmen. Distributing
thewealthoftherich, andannual salary forroyal employees.
6. King, minister, land, fort, treasury, military forces and friends are known as Seven
Constituents;Relationswithothernations.
7. The king’s duties regarding peace, war, non-alignment, preparations for victory
march, signingtreaty etc.,
8. Dangers of the king becoming prey to the bad habits or addictions; Calamities,
whichcan be causedbythefire andwater etc.,
9-10. Occasionsofwarand wartechniques.
11. Plans and techniquesforbreakingup oftheunityoftheenemyforces.
12. King, consolidating his power and killing his enemy kings with deceptive means
withthehelpofspiesand captivesandothers, etc.,
13. Threatening the enemies by propagating the nobility and virtues of the king. And
usingspiesand commonfolkforthispurposein severalways.
14. Useofmedicineand magicspellsto succeed againstenemies.
15. Division of the treatise and 32 principles that should be followed in argument and
illustrationforthem.
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan has applauded Kautilya’s Arthas´a¯stra as the work that eluci-
dates the Ancient India’s social conditions and political systems. “I must say that this is
one of the most interesting and valuable sanskrit works ever procured. As a faithful and
life–like representation of Indian Institutions and modes of Government, it is without a