2023-03-09 08:45:44 by Jayashree
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9
Probably the collections of Cāṇakya maxims possess
a fairly old traditional nucleus;¹ they belong neither to
nīti proper, nor to kāvya proper; many of these maxims
and aphorisms can be identified in other works of
Indian literature, in particular the epics, Purāṇa-s,
Dharmaśāstra-s, kavya and kathā literature and many
can be found also in other Subhāṣita-samgraha-s. This
identity of aphorisms and maxims does not imply direct
borrowing one from the other, in view of the fact that
the floating mass of oral tradition may have served as
a common depositary for the borrowing. Many
collections attributed to Canakya in the opening line
INTRODUCTION
2
¹ cf. S. N. Dasgupta and S. K. De, op. cit., p. 196.
2 Some MSS. contain many stanzas which also occur in
Vet. (cf. CM, p. 10), but all MSS. and editions contain a great
number of stanzas which also occur in the Pañcatantra and the
Hitopadeśa. Cf. CStP and CStH; the author found 200 and 164
Cāṇakya stanzas respectively in the Pañcatantra and the Hitopadeśa.
He showed that aphorisms contained in the HJ 2.118, 121, 147
and 4.5 which formally formed the prefatory or concluding stanzas
were reflected in the body of the story that follows, just as the
animals around which the subsequent story was built were also the
principal characters in the stanzas. He stated, for instance, in
CStH that in HJ 2.119 the maxim ab reads: ' that which could not
be accomplished by prowess may be affected by stratagem ',
while cd referred to the next tale dealing with the hen crow and
the black serpent and reads: a hen crow by (means of) a gold
chain caused a black serpent to be put to death'. Since these two
lines originated in the P, the main source for the H, it can be also
assumed that a compiler of some Cāṇakya aphorisms or a scribe
included these lines at a date later than that of the P or the H. In
these cases it was not the P or the H that 'borrowed' from
Cāṇakya, but as it were, the opposite happened.
Probably the collections of Cāṇakya maxims possess
a fairly old traditional nucleus;¹ they belong neither to
nīti proper, nor to kāvya proper; many of these maxims
and aphorisms can be identified in other works of
Indian literature, in particular the epics, Purāṇa-s,
Dharmaśāstra-s, kavya and kathā literature and many
can be found also in other Subhāṣita-samgraha-s. This
identity of aphorisms and maxims does not imply direct
borrowing one from the other, in view of the fact that
the floating mass of oral tradition may have served as
a common depositary for the borrowing. Many
collections attributed to Canakya in the opening line
INTRODUCTION
2
¹ cf. S. N. Dasgupta and S. K. De, op. cit., p. 196.
2 Some MSS. contain many stanzas which also occur in
Vet. (cf. CM, p. 10), but all MSS. and editions contain a great
number of stanzas which also occur in the Pañcatantra and the
Hitopadeśa. Cf. CStP and CStH; the author found 200 and 164
Cāṇakya stanzas respectively in the Pañcatantra and the Hitopadeśa.
He showed that aphorisms contained in the HJ 2.118, 121, 147
and 4.5 which formally formed the prefatory or concluding stanzas
were reflected in the body of the story that follows, just as the
animals around which the subsequent story was built were also the
principal characters in the stanzas. He stated, for instance, in
CStH that in HJ 2.119 the maxim ab reads: ' that which could not
be accomplished by prowess may be affected by stratagem ',
while cd referred to the next tale dealing with the hen crow and
the black serpent and reads: a hen crow by (means of) a gold
chain caused a black serpent to be put to death'. Since these two
lines originated in the P, the main source for the H, it can be also
assumed that a compiler of some Cāṇakya aphorisms or a scribe
included these lines at a date later than that of the P or the H. In
these cases it was not the P or the H that 'borrowed' from
Cāṇakya, but as it were, the opposite happened.