Eternal India Encyclopedia

Ancient Concepts, Sciences & Systems

encyclopedia

Maurya. This is a work of great interest and value. In the preamble

to the

Arthashastra,

the author has stated that it is being written as

a compendium of almost all th

t Arthashastras

composed till then by

ancient authors, and undoubtedly Chanakya has made it an encyclo-

paedia of statecraft and legal system for the guidance of all

concerned. Surprisingly this great work remained untraced, but for-

tunately it was unearthed by Dr. R. Shama Shastry of the Oriental

Research Institute, Mysore. He translated this great work and

published it in 1915. Chandragupta Maurya became the king in 322

B.C. and his son Bindusara ascended the throne in 298 B.C. It is

during this period that Chanakya lived and wrote this famous work,

sometime between 322 and 300 B.C. It is necessary to set out the

contents of the fifteen parts or books of his

Arthashastra

to give an

idea at a glance about the extent of the subject matter covered by

Kautilya on various topics relating to law and other affairs of State.

Education, training and discipline to be imparted to a king to

equip him to discharge his onerous responsibilities ably and

efficiently, such as appointment of ministers and other offi-

cers of the State and other matters relating to its administra-

tion.

Duties of various executive officers of the State.

Law and its administration.

Suppression of crime.

Miscellaneous matters - such as steps to be taken in emer-

gencies, pay scales for state officers, duty of Chief Minister

of ensuring continuity of rule on the demise of king, etc.

Seven constituents of State -

Rajamandala -

for discussion

of State’s relations with neighbours.

Foreign policy — deals with the six political expedients in

the field of diplomacy.

Methods to overcome various calamities to the State.

Military Code - kinds of troops to be mobilised for an expe-

dition and proper seasons for the expedition and precautions

to be taken.

10.

Fighting methodology - at war.

11.

Steps to be taken by a would be conqueror.

12.

Design to be adopted by a weaker king when threatened by a

stronger king.

13.

Conquest of the enemy by various methods.

14.

Remedies and plans to be adopted in getting rid of enemies

or traitors.

15.

Object of and purpose achieved by

Arthashastra. —

defines

and illustrates practical training in 32 methods pertaining to

politics.

For more details on

Arthashastra

Refer K-34

Vincent Smith has pointed out that civil and constitutional laws

explained in the work are strikingly similar to those recorded by

Megasthenes and other. Greek writers.

THE TWO EPICS

The two great epics of this country,

The Ramayana

and

The

Mahabharatha,

constitute the treasure house and source of au-

thoritative exposition on several topics of law, particularly the latter

epic. The authors of these two works, Valmiki and Vyasa, sages

and authors of outstanding merit, have incorporated the most

important principles of Dharma accepted and prevailing in society,

in their respective ages in the context in which they became rele-

vant while narrating the stories. Consequently later authors of

Dharmashastras

have relied on the epics as authoritative sources

on general topics of law. For instance as regards the right of the

eldest son to succeed to his father’s kingdom, the

Ramayana

quoted as an authority in the work

Rajaniti Ratnakara

of Chan-

deswara. There are as many as 66 verses in the

Ramayana

which

pertain to the governance of the country (

Rajadharma

) in which the

duties and responsibilities of kings are set out.

Commentaries and digests : The commentators can aptly be

described as the architects of the Hindu legal system. By their

scintillating intellectual calibre and the force of logic and expres-

sion, they removed the angularities in the old hard, rock-like provi-

sions with the aid of accepted usages and customs and gave them

the required shape so as to fulfil the aspiration of the people during

the relevant period. The commentators amplified the narrow provi-

sions of the Smritis.

However this type of development of law could not be uniform,

obviously on account of the vastness of the country, existence of

several princely states and lack of easy and speedy communica-

tions. Therefore the commentators made their contribution to the

development of law in the particular region where they flourished

having due regard to the usage and custom followed by the society

in that region. Consequently the commentaries written in any

particular society and accepted by the society became the law for

that locality. In spite of these handicaps, only two broad divisions

of law developed on the basis of the two main commentaries,

though several sub-divisions with minor variations also came into

existence in certain regions. The two main divisions were 1.

Mitakshara

system, propounded by Vijnaneswara and 2.

Day-

abhaga

system, propounded by Jimuthavahana.

M I T A K S H A R A

The title Mitakshara which etymologically means ‘limited let-

ters’ is given to the celebrated commentary on the

Yajnavalkya

smriti

by Vijnaneswara to indicate that it is a brief and precise

commentary. The author of Mitakshara hailed from south India and

lived in the 11th century. He was an ascetic and wrote this

commentary during the reign of Vikramaditya whose capital city

was Kalyana. An inscription of 1124 A.D. found on the wall of a

Shiva temple at Martur in Gulbarga district reveals that King

Vikramaditya granted lands to Vijnaneswara in recognition of his

meritorious commentary. It deals with almost all the important

topics of law and synthesises the several

smriti

texts. It was soon

accepted as the paramount authority throughout the country except

in Bengal where for historical reasons not precisely known the

Dayabhagha system propounded by Jimutavahana was accepted.

Even at present in respect of matters not altered by legislation, it

continues to be the personal law applicable to the vast majority of

Hindus and is being enforced in the courts of law as it constitutes

the “existing law” saved by Article 372 of the Constitution.

D A Y A B HA GA

Dayabhaga of Jimuthavahana : This is a dissertation on the law

of inheritance and partition. This work is not in the nature of a com-

mentary but is a digest of all the

smritis.

Jimutavahana, who is the

founder of this system, appears to have flourished in the early part

Eternal India