Political and administrative ideas of Manu and Kautilya: a comparative study

Abstract

The present study is a comparative analysis of the major political and administrative ideas of Manu and Kautilya, such as, their views on state, king and kingship, administration of justice, inter state relations and diplomacy. A comparative relevance of ideas of Manu and Kautilya in modern times has also been dealt with. Kautilya?s administrative and judicial structure was hierarchical in nature. As for justice , he emphasized on the principle of equity and immediacy. As for law and order , he believed that law was a royal command enforced by sanctions. Both Manu and Kautilya had conceived the state as a seven-limbed .Both had defined the various qualifications an ideal king should posses, duties of the king in administrative, legal, financial , religious and military fields. They had dealt with minor issues like the education of princes, marriage, style of living, their safety and the like. To them state was to serve a definite purpose with a specific end and they accepted it as a positive good. They conceived the state in its definite form. Both Manu and Kautilya accepted the importance of the king and his sovereignty. Both Manu and Kautilya recognized the importance of dharma both as the end of the state and as a source of law. Whereas Manu attached great importance to the sacred character of the laws, consistent with the rational outlook adopted by him, Kautilya laid greater stress on the state-law than on the sacred law. The maintenance of foreign relations formed a very important department of the public activity of every state, and, naturally foreign policy was regarded as an extremely useful art. Both Manu and Kautilya had offered wide-ranging and truly fascinating discussions on war and diplomacy. They had analysed the methods of diplomacy, principles determining the foreign policy, role of the diplomats and spies. What prevented the king from becoming despotic and autocratic was their acceptance of Dharma as the supreme authority to which they were as much subject as the ordinary citizen.