Book contents
- The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Ideas in Context
- The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Arthaśāstra Historiography
- Chapter 3 The Resegmentation of the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 4 Citation and Attribution
- Chapter 5 The Deep Structure of the Text
- Chapter 6 The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 7 The Politics of the Daṇḍanīti
- Chapter 8 Varṇadharma in the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 9 Statecraft, Law, and Religion in Ancient India
- Appendix I Other Theories of Composition
- Appendix II Chapter Colophons
- Appendix III End Verses at Variance with Preceding Prose
- Appendix IV Possible Integration between Prose and End Verses
- Appendix V Proposed Interpolations at the End of Chapters
- Appendix VI Possible Instances of Unattributed Citation
- Appendix VII Proposed Interpolations Depending on Citations
- Appendix VIII Other Proposed Interpolations
- Appendix IX Manu’s Seventh Chapter and the Daṇḍanīti
- Appendix X Brāhmaṇical Privileges
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Index
- Ideas in Context
Chapter 8 - Varṇadharma in the Arthaśāstra
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 June 2019
- The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Ideas in Context
- The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Arthaśāstra Historiography
- Chapter 3 The Resegmentation of the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 4 Citation and Attribution
- Chapter 5 The Deep Structure of the Text
- Chapter 6 The History of the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 7 The Politics of the Daṇḍanīti
- Chapter 8 Varṇadharma in the Arthaśāstra
- Chapter 9 Statecraft, Law, and Religion in Ancient India
- Appendix I Other Theories of Composition
- Appendix II Chapter Colophons
- Appendix III End Verses at Variance with Preceding Prose
- Appendix IV Possible Integration between Prose and End Verses
- Appendix V Proposed Interpolations at the End of Chapters
- Appendix VI Possible Instances of Unattributed Citation
- Appendix VII Proposed Interpolations Depending on Citations
- Appendix VIII Other Proposed Interpolations
- Appendix IX Manu’s Seventh Chapter and the Daṇḍanīti
- Appendix X Brāhmaṇical Privileges
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Index
- Ideas in Context
Summary
In this chapter, the political theology of varṇāśramadharma is reintroduced. It is demonstrated that nearly all references to varṇāśramadharma and all references to dharma as a power standing above the king were introduced during the redaction of the text in the third century BCE. The various aspects of varṇāśramadharma that are found in the extant Arthaśāstra are explored in detail. Nearly all are linked to the work of the redactor. The addition of varṇāśramadharma creates a disonnance in the extant text, and the curiously hybrid character of its resulting political theory is explored.
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- The History of the ArthasastraSovereignty and Sacred Law in Ancient India, pp. 174 - 207Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019