The Fiscal Wisdom in Our Texts

Arthashastra was a response to the complexities of building and maintaining a diverse empire

- PC JHA

Apart from spiritual and philosophical insights, India's ancient texts offer practical frameworks for governance, economics, and public finance. For nation-building, we often seek best practices from developed economies. Yet, our own ancient texts like the Arthashastra and Manusmriti provide enduring wisdom that is relevant even today. These texts advocate a model for sustainable governance rooted in economic rationality rather than based on the welfare of a few at an enormous cost to the masses. They reflect lived principles of empires that achieved an ideal blend of territorial integrity and expansion, social stability, and economic prosperity.

One of the most powerful embodiments of this wisdom was the Mauryan Empire, which was the first realization of Akhand Bharat. The Mauryan state stood out for its efficient administration, ethical statecraft, and investments in national security and public welfare.

At the time of Chandragupta Maurya's rise in 322 BCE, India was politically fragmented, dominated by small, often warring, kingdoms. Against this backdrop, Kautilya, the strategist, economist, philosopher, and advisor to Chandragupta Maurya, authored the Arthashastra as a comprehensive manual of governance. It was also a response to the complexities of building and maintaining a vast, diverse empire. It offered detailed guidance on governance, economic management, taxation, military organization, diplomacy, and penal code. Remarkably, this manual influenced governance in India for the next 1,500 years.