Preface
Abbreviations
Note to the Translation
Outline of the Arthasastra
Introduction
Translation
Book 1: On the Subject of Training
Book 2: On the Activities of Superintendents
Book 3: On Justices
Book 4: Eradication of Thorns
Book 5: On Secret Conduct
Book 6: Basis of the Circle
Book 7: On the Sixfold Strategy
Book 8: On the Subject of Calamities
Book 9: Activity of a King Preparing to March into Battle
Book 10: On War
Book 11: Conduct toward Confederacies
Book 12: On the Weaker King
Book 13: Means of Capturing a Fort
Book 14: On Esoteric Practices
Book 15: Organization of A Scientific Treatise
Notes
Appendix 1: Fauna and Flora
Appendix 2: Weights and Measures
Appendix 3: Geographical Names
Bibliography
Patrick Olivelle is Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions at the University of Texas at Austin.
"Although citizens of democratic India continue to mull over and
quarrel about old texts like these, it could be argued that what
keeps such works vital and relevant is not so much what's in them
as the fact that they exist at all, that they function as reminders
of the deep foundations on which the edifice of Indian modernity
rests with a degree of confidence and stability. Whatever we may
make of such texts, depending on our ideological needs, our
political
vantages, and our imaginative capacities, we must remain grateful
to scholars like Olivelle, whose immense labor and lucid analysis
give us the building blocks with which to make or break, arrange
or
rearrange our past, our present, and perhaps, with time enough, our
future as well."--Public Books
"Arthasastra is a very important text in the understanding of
ancient Hindu thinking, and Olivelle's translation will help
researchers to make analyses with precision and without falling
into anachronisms." --Strategic Analysis
"For years unreadable and inaccurate translations have discouraged
general readers and Sanskrit-less scholars of India from reading
the Arthasastra, though this work is central to anyone's
understanding of Indian history, law, politics, economics, society,
religion, and much more. At last we have a translation of
extraordinary erudition and clarity that makes this fascinating and
crucially important text truly accessible. The prose is
transparent,
clean, devoid of jargon or highly technical language; the
meticulously detailed notes clarify the more abstruse points. All
of Patrick Olivelle's translations are first-rate, but this is his
great
masterpiece."--Wendy Doniger, Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service
Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago
Divinity School
"Patrick Olivelle's fluent and illuminatingly annotated translation
will be a revelation to all those interested in ancient India and
in the organization of ancient states more generally. By offering a
powerful counter to the popular notion of an ancient India focused
only on transcendent religious speculation, it significantly
complicates and deepens our picture of that place and
time."--Stephanie W. Jamison, Professor of Asian Languages and
Cultures and of
Indo-European Studies, the University of California, Los
Angeles
"Patrick Olivelle crowns a distinguished career by translating one
of the most difficult, and by many measures the most valuable, of
Sanskrit texts, Kautilya's Arthasastra. A lifetime of scholarly
translations from Sanskrit has prepared him to scale these daunting
heights, and the result is magnificent. The work is informed by a
strongly-argued theory about the composition of the Arthasastra,
and the translation is richly annotated. All
scholars of ancient India will benefit from this splendid new
translation."--Thomas R. Trautmann, Professor Emeritus of History
and Anthropology, University of Michigan
"Patrick Olivelle, better qualified for the job than any other
Indologist by decades of experience in translating ancient and
medieval Indian texts, as well as by his long and highly productive
engagement with Indian legal literature, has presented a new
translation of the famous and in many regards unique Arthasastra of
Kautilya, the only extant witness of the once much larger genre of
texts dealing with the science of law and statecraft. By a rare
combination of philological acumen, insightful recognition of
textual and exegetical problems, an enviably vast erudition, and a
developed feel for the language, Olivelle has succeeded in
preparing a richly
annotated translation that is both readable and utterly reliable.
It not only outdoes all its predecessors but will also stand
unchallenged the test of time."--Albrecht Wezler, Emeritus
Professor of Sanskrit, University of Hamburg, Germany
"The Arthasastra is a work of exceptional importance for
understanding the history of classical India. Olivelle's careful,
painstaking, and transparent translation of Kautilya's great
treatise is an exceptional work as well, and an outstanding
contribution to the field of Indian studies." --H-Net Reviews
Ask a Question About this Product More... |