The text says, one of the greatest dangers to a king is his own lust, desire ar and propensity towards corruption. It gives an image of a king who is always being threatened by his advisers or enemies. The word gama has that sense ofa both sensual and sexual pleasure. And so there's a sense that, you know, the king can never rest.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ancient Sanskrit text the Arthashastra, regarded as one of the major works of Indian literature. Written in the style of a scientific treatise, it provides rulers with a guide on how to govern their territory and sets out what the structure, economic policy and foreign affairs of the ideal state should be. According to legend, it was written by Chanakya, a political advisor to the ruler Chandragupta Maurya (reigned 321 – 297 BC) who founded the Mauryan Empire, the first great Empire in the Indian subcontinent. As the Arthashastra asserts that a ruler should pursue his goals ruthlessly by whatever means is required, it has been compared with the 16th-century work The Prince by Machiavelli. Today, it is widely viewed as presenting a sophisticated and refined analysis of the nature, dynamics and challenges of rulership, and scholars value it partly because it undermines colonial stereotypes of what early South Asian society was like.
With
Jessica Frazier
Lecturer in the Study of Religion at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
James Hegarty
Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions at Cardiff University
And
Deven Patel
Associate Professor of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania
Producer: Simon Tillotson