Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/85

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ADMINISTRATION OF THE EMPIRE

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supplemented by some novel arrangements and slightly modiﬁed by certain reforms. The systematic and invaluable treatise on the Art of Government ascribed to Kantalya, Kautilya, or Chânakya, the capable, although unscrupulous, minister of the first Maurya sovereign ^[1], and undoubtedly of early date, throws much Welcome light on the principles of government as practised by ancient Indian kings, conﬁrming and explaining in many respects the Greek accounts which previously stood alone. Numerous particulars of the civil and ecclesiastical organization of the empire are revealed by close examination of the Asoka inscriptions, and careful comparison of all the data of various kinds enables the historian to say with truth

↑ The minister's name is given as Kauṭalya, Kauṭilya, Châṇakya, or Vishṇugupta. Mr. R. Shamasastry is entitled to the credit of bringing to public notice for the ﬁrst time a manuscript of the Arthaśâstra and an imperfect manuscript of a commentary by Bhaṭṭasvâmi on the same, which have been deposited by a pundit in the Mysore Government Oriental Library. Two more MSS. of the_work have been lent by Professor Jolly to the Münich State Library, and another appears to exist in the collection of the Sanskrit College at Calcutta (Hillebrandt, Ueber das Kauṭilîyaśâstra und Verwandtes, Breslau, 1908). Mr. Shamasastry has printed the text, which was discovered in 1904, as vol. xxxvii of the Bibliotheca Sanskrita of Mysore (1909). The same learned scholar, having published translations of parts of the book in various forms, produced a complete version in 1915 (Bangalore Government Press). That version, although obviously needing revision, is a most creditable performance, and has been of the utmost value to me. The difficulties confronting the translator of the work are formidable. A considerable literature is growing up round the subject, and years must elapse before a perfect version can be expected.

[1] The minister's name is given as Kauṭalya, Kauṭilya, Châṇakya, or Vishṇugupta. Mr. R. Shamasastry is entitled to the credit of bringing to public notice for the ﬁrst time a manuscript of the Arthaśâstra and an imperfect manuscript of a commentary by Bhaṭṭasvâmi on the same, which have been deposited by a pundit in the Mysore Government Oriental Library. Two more MSS. of the_work have been lent by Professor Jolly to the Münich State Library, and another appears to exist in the collection of the Sanskrit College at Calcutta (Hillebrandt, Ueber das Kauṭilîyaśâstra und Verwandtes, Breslau, 1908). Mr. Shamasastry has printed the text, which was discovered in 1904, as vol. xxxvii of the Bibliotheca Sanskrita of Mysore (1909). The same learned scholar, having published translations of parts of the book in various forms, produced a complete version in 1915 (Bangalore Government Press). That version, although obviously needing revision, is a most creditable performance, and has been of the utmost value to me. The difficulties confronting the translator of the work are formidable. A considerable literature is growing up round the subject, and years must elapse before a perfect version can be expected.

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