The Sanskrit word for scientific work is 'shastra' (text book), while 'Arthashastra' implies 'science of wealth and power'. The Arthashastra tradition in Sanskrit, along with its various translations over the ages, has carried forward the key essence of statecraft in India. For over 2,000 years, this tradition can be seen in three texts as milestones dealing with statecraft in varying degrees and on grand strategy, warfare, and security-related issues, military appreciation, diplomacy, intelligence studies, leadership, management, and morals, under the term in Sanskrit as 'artha'. There is another related and synonymous term, 'niti'. Niti is defined as pragmatics, politics, or statecraft. The Sanskrit Dictionary of Law and Statecraft defines niti as law, policy, governance, and Nitishastra to mean treatise on law or political science. In other words, 'the books relating to the regulations of the state are generally known by the technical term of Nitisastras.... Among the extant publications, we may mention the three monumental works in this tradition, viz. the Arthasastra of Kautilya, the Kamandaki, and the Sukranitisara. In this tradition of statecraft and politics, 'the Nitisara of Sukra is a well-known manual of Arthashastra's type.'5 Etymologically, in the initial stages, the term was artha and danda. Later, as Jayaswal notes, the term niti (policy or principle) and nyaya (justice) superseded the old words artha and danda. For example, Kamandaka (also spelt as Kamandaki) calls his metrical treaties a Niti-sara and the text of Sukra is known as Sukranitisara."
Readers will, however, come across a different meaning of Niti in some works. For example, John A. Grimes in his dictionary defines Niti as 'rules for ethical living." It will be of interest to know how this mistranslation came about and persists in some form. A brief background to this is in Appendix A. It is hoped that this wrong interpretation of Niti is now corrected. Niti is not ruled for ethical living or a dharma text but is pragmatics politics or statecraft, law, policy, and governance.
Two terms, which are used repeatedly and are assumed to be self-evident in this exploration and study are 'Statecraft and Warcraft', and 'Tradition. Some explanation about these is necessary.
Statecraft and Warcraft
The best definition of statecraft is of Adda Bozeman:
"Statecraft" stands for the total of human dispositions, doctrines, policies, institutions, processes, and operations that are designed to assure the governance, security, and survival of a politically unified human group.
State making in history has relied on war as a means. Although war and peace are the foundational themes of almost all Indic texts, the end-state is peace. The use of force or the threat of use of force as war was an instrument of foreign policy flowing out of statecraft. It was always the last resort. It is in this spirit that it has been argued that there is 'Hardly any literature dealing exclusively with military science or the art of war during ancient and medieval periods. But it has to be remembered that warcraft was then regarded as statecraft and so the various works on statecraft deal also with the art of war. These three texts of Kautilya, Kamandaka, and Sukra deal with war as a means and thus statecraft in various ways, extent, and levels (strategic or tactical).
Tradition In this work, tradition implies the values and concepts in statecraft which are unique for their contemporary relevance. Chapter 6 is about some core traditions of Artha and Niti that have endured and are relevant.
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