2023-03-09 08:45:53 by Jayashree
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INTRODUCTION
11
assumption leads to one further step, i.e. to the author-
ship of the collections. The general opinion of all
authors on Indian literature was that, despite the
tradition which accepted Cāṇakya as the author of
collections known to exist under his name, ' it is absurd'
to assume that they were really composed by Cāṇakya,
the minister of Candragupta Maurya.¹ Such an
assumption, other scholars wrote, should be excluded.
with certainty; 2 Cāṇakya was a name under which.
miscellaneous collections were passed. They were
attributed to Cāṇakya in majorem gloriam. Most
maxims dealing with polity, practical philosophy, and
worldly wisdom were attributed to Cāṇakya-the hero
of Indian tradition.5 But in reality there is no intrinsic.
reason for believing that the attribution of the various.
collections to Cāṇakya was due to any authority other
than that of the compilers of the various collections.
To enhance their own literary accomplishments, many
Indian compilers attributed them in the introductory
or concluding stanzas to Cāṇakya. J. van Manen
made a thorough study of such initial and concluding
stanzas and reached the conclusion that there was no
¹ A. B. Keith, A History of Sanskrit Literature, London, 1928,.
p. 228; CKr, p. 7.
² O. Botto, 'Dal Trattato di Scienza politica di Cāṇakya',
Rivista di Filosofia, Ser. 3, 5, p. 298.
3 S. N. Dasgupta and S. K. De, op. cit., pp. 162, 194.
4 cf. A. Weber in CNW, p. 401.
5 cf. M. Winternitz, op. cit., p. 135.
6cf. J. van Manen, op. cit.,
p. xiii.
11
assumption leads to one further step, i.e. to the author-
ship of the collections. The general opinion of all
authors on Indian literature was that, despite the
tradition which accepted Cāṇakya as the author of
collections known to exist under his name, ' it is absurd'
to assume that they were really composed by Cāṇakya,
the minister of Candragupta Maurya.¹ Such an
assumption, other scholars wrote, should be excluded.
with certainty; 2 Cāṇakya was a name under which.
miscellaneous collections were passed. They were
attributed to Cāṇakya in majorem gloriam. Most
maxims dealing with polity, practical philosophy, and
worldly wisdom were attributed to Cāṇakya-the hero
of Indian tradition.5 But in reality there is no intrinsic.
reason for believing that the attribution of the various.
collections to Cāṇakya was due to any authority other
than that of the compilers of the various collections.
To enhance their own literary accomplishments, many
Indian compilers attributed them in the introductory
or concluding stanzas to Cāṇakya. J. van Manen
made a thorough study of such initial and concluding
stanzas and reached the conclusion that there was no
¹ A. B. Keith, A History of Sanskrit Literature, London, 1928,.
p. 228; CKr, p. 7.
² O. Botto, 'Dal Trattato di Scienza politica di Cāṇakya',
Rivista di Filosofia, Ser. 3, 5, p. 298.
3 S. N. Dasgupta and S. K. De, op. cit., pp. 162, 194.
4 cf. A. Weber in CNW, p. 401.
5 cf. M. Winternitz, op. cit., p. 135.
6cf. J. van Manen, op. cit.,
p. xiii.