Posted:
First of all, a very happy Deepavali to you and your family as well, my dear Shreya. For us Tamils, the Narakachaturdashi is tomorrow, Saturday early morning, and that is when we will celebrate it. For North Indians, it will be on Sunday evening , for the Lakshmi puja. Usually, though, ours is in the morning of the same day, though not last year and this year.
Before I go any further, something more about the Arthashastra, for we Indian diplomats study it, and there have also been extensive studies on it in recent years.. One such in One Hundred Years of the Arthashastra, published in 2013, by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi . The IDSA has also just completed a 3 volume study of Kautilya and his Vocabulary. There are many more such books, which together mark a resurgence of both interest in and detailed study of this seminal work.
What you have written about Sir William Jones establishing the link between the Greek references to Sandrocottos and Chandragupta Maurya is absolutely correct.
As for the Arthashastra being lost to us and the world till 1904, while your note is correct for the most part, it was not a few palm leaves but a whole palm leaf manuscript that was handed over to Dr. Shamashastry of the Mysore Oriental Research Institute. That stands to reason, for how could a few palm leaves have contained the whole text of a weighty compilation on statecraft?
Dr.Shamashastry translated it into Sanskrit that is to say "modern" Sanskrit, as opposed to the Sanskrit of the 4th century BC - in 1909, and into English in 1915. The latter hit the English-speaking and in fact the whole western world with gale force.
It was similar to the upheaval caused by the discovery of remains in Harappa and Mohenjodaro. In that case, history was known to have begun with Alexander's arrival in India. So what was to be made of the spectacular ruins on the banks of the Indus and lost Saraswati, dating to millennia before 323 BCE? Similarly, to find an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft and economics upset the ideas of the rulers about the uncivilised and unsophisticated nature of the colonised Hindus.
However, as far as translations of the Arthashastra go, the gold standard is RP Kangle's 1965 version.
Some supplementary comments about your post.
-What? You are actually concerned about Helena appearing too early in CGM's life? I cannot believe this!😆 No point in expecting any similarities of any of the classical works either, including the Mudrarakshasa. I shall just coast along, unflustered by anything that is thrown at me!😉
- After reading your comments on the Chanakya-Chandragupta scenes, I was struck by how differently two people can perceive the same visuals. I was entranced by the power and the beauty of both the lines and the performances, and the way in which they illuminated the unique bond between the guru and his prize shishya. Your reactions are totally different, and do not touch at all on what really moved me. Interesting.
No, Alexander's army did not defeat him. It actually saved him for a while longer, though the retreat was a horrendous exercise that almost did him in as it was. If he had gone further into India, his army would have been decimated and he would surely have been killed in battle. Which would not have been at all good for his heroic legend. So his army saved his legend as well!
Shyamala Aunty
Before I go any further, something more about the Arthashastra, for we Indian diplomats study it, and there have also been extensive studies on it in recent years.. One such in One Hundred Years of the Arthashastra, published in 2013, by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi . The IDSA has also just completed a 3 volume study of Kautilya and his Vocabulary. There are many more such books, which together mark a resurgence of both interest in and detailed study of this seminal work.
What you have written about Sir William Jones establishing the link between the Greek references to Sandrocottos and Chandragupta Maurya is absolutely correct.
As for the Arthashastra being lost to us and the world till 1904, while your note is correct for the most part, it was not a few palm leaves but a whole palm leaf manuscript that was handed over to Dr. Shamashastry of the Mysore Oriental Research Institute. That stands to reason, for how could a few palm leaves have contained the whole text of a weighty compilation on statecraft?
Dr.Shamashastry translated it into Sanskrit that is to say "modern" Sanskrit, as opposed to the Sanskrit of the 4th century BC - in 1909, and into English in 1915. The latter hit the English-speaking and in fact the whole western world with gale force.
It was similar to the upheaval caused by the discovery of remains in Harappa and Mohenjodaro. In that case, history was known to have begun with Alexander's arrival in India. So what was to be made of the spectacular ruins on the banks of the Indus and lost Saraswati, dating to millennia before 323 BCE? Similarly, to find an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft and economics upset the ideas of the rulers about the uncivilised and unsophisticated nature of the colonised Hindus.
However, as far as translations of the Arthashastra go, the gold standard is RP Kangle's 1965 version.
Some supplementary comments about your post.
-What? You are actually concerned about Helena appearing too early in CGM's life? I cannot believe this!😆 No point in expecting any similarities of any of the classical works either, including the Mudrarakshasa. I shall just coast along, unflustered by anything that is thrown at me!😉
- After reading your comments on the Chanakya-Chandragupta scenes, I was struck by how differently two people can perceive the same visuals. I was entranced by the power and the beauty of both the lines and the performances, and the way in which they illuminated the unique bond between the guru and his prize shishya. Your reactions are totally different, and do not touch at all on what really moved me. Interesting.
No, Alexander's army did not defeat him. It actually saved him for a while longer, though the retreat was a horrendous exercise that almost did him in as it was. If he had gone further into India, his army would have been decimated and he would surely have been killed in battle. Which would not have been at all good for his heroic legend. So his army saved his legend as well!
Shyamala Aunty
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
