चाणक्यराजनीतिः /44

INTRODUCTION
 

 
name of Masūrākṣa (and this one containing certain

ślokas which are contained in nearly all Cāṇakya

collections and nowhere else ascribed to another), and

finally one under the name of Vararuci'.¹ In this con-

nection, J. van Manen also pointed to the variations of

the name Cāṇakya, namely Cānakya, Cānaka (charac-

teristic of texts from Bengal and Nepal), Cāṇikya and

Canika (characteristic of those from Rajputana?),

Cāṇākya and Cāṇākhya (characteristic of those from

the region of Bombay),2 Cāṇāyakya, Cāmṇāyaka and

Caulayaka. To this list such names as Cāṇakyā,

Cāṇakyaya, Cāṇāka, Cānakhya, etc. could be added;

they are found in various MSS. and editions of the

so-called Cāṇakya aphorisms.
 

 
It is possible to agree with J. van Manen that the

original nīti tradition is older than, and independent

from, Cāṇakya's name, since we do not know when the

various versions known to exist under the name of

Cāṇakya became so to say petrified, but it is difficult

to agree with him that it could be attributed to

Saunaka. All the arguments mentioned before lead

to the conclusion that the so-called Canakya collections

were in majorem gloriam attributed to the Indian hero

--Cāṇakya. E. Monseur rightly said: On dit dans

l'Inde un Canakya de la même façon qu'on dit en France un

"Petit Buffon de l'Enfance

pour un ouvrage élémentaire
 
C
 

 
C
 
39
 

 
2
 

 
15
 

 
1 op. cit., pp. xiii-xiv.
 

 
Cāṇakhya seems to be characteristic of the Marathi speak-

ing part of India.