DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.53502#0016
Kautilya Artha^dsira
8
was apparently unknown to the authors of these com-
positions, because it had been superseded by the more
attractive and popular work of Karrandaka.'
The Pancatantra is another Niti work deeply in-
fluenced by the A. as may be gathered not only from
the reference to Canakya in the introduction, but also
from a comparison of the contents of both works. The
Tantrakhyayika as the earliest version of the Panca-
tantra is called contains at least 30 texts derived from
the A. and it agrees with the latter in its general rea-
listic tendency as well as in single texts, declaring as
it does that what is sinful in ordinary mortals may be-
come a dictate of duty in a king. The date of the
Tantrakhyayika is fixed about 300 A. D, by its editor,
Professor Hertel, but this is perhaps too early by a
century or so, since that collection of tales was not
translated into Pahlavi till about 570 A. D. and is not
likely to have been composed long before that time,
considering its close agreement with the Pahlavi trans-
lation.
There can be no question about those two dis-
tinguished works of fiction referring to the A., Dan-
din’s Dasakumaracarita (8th cent. Jacobi) and Pana’s
Kadambari (7th cent.). As regards the former writer, his
mention of 18 kinds of judicial torture, of the various
kinds of spies as Tiks$a, Rasada and Gudhapurusa, of the
tests called Upadha, of the circle of states, the three
Saktis, the symptoms of royal disgrace, the six principal
vices of a king and the advantages of hunting, the names
1. The supposed use of the Greek word Hora does not fix its
date, because the verse in question is omitted in the new edition in
the Trivandrum series and may be easily dispensed with. The 8th.
cent, seems to be the most likely date.
8
was apparently unknown to the authors of these com-
positions, because it had been superseded by the more
attractive and popular work of Karrandaka.'
The Pancatantra is another Niti work deeply in-
fluenced by the A. as may be gathered not only from
the reference to Canakya in the introduction, but also
from a comparison of the contents of both works. The
Tantrakhyayika as the earliest version of the Panca-
tantra is called contains at least 30 texts derived from
the A. and it agrees with the latter in its general rea-
listic tendency as well as in single texts, declaring as
it does that what is sinful in ordinary mortals may be-
come a dictate of duty in a king. The date of the
Tantrakhyayika is fixed about 300 A. D, by its editor,
Professor Hertel, but this is perhaps too early by a
century or so, since that collection of tales was not
translated into Pahlavi till about 570 A. D. and is not
likely to have been composed long before that time,
considering its close agreement with the Pahlavi trans-
lation.
There can be no question about those two dis-
tinguished works of fiction referring to the A., Dan-
din’s Dasakumaracarita (8th cent. Jacobi) and Pana’s
Kadambari (7th cent.). As regards the former writer, his
mention of 18 kinds of judicial torture, of the various
kinds of spies as Tiks$a, Rasada and Gudhapurusa, of the
tests called Upadha, of the circle of states, the three
Saktis, the symptoms of royal disgrace, the six principal
vices of a king and the advantages of hunting, the names
1. The supposed use of the Greek word Hora does not fix its
date, because the verse in question is omitted in the new edition in
the Trivandrum series and may be easily dispensed with. The 8th.
cent, seems to be the most likely date.