The study of Arthashastra

Studying a subject with interest and enthusiasm is an intellectually enlightening and stimulating process for the mind. Studying different subjects are simply different routes to achieving the same objective- churning of the mind.

This churning of the mind is essentially an honest and dispassionate transformation of the learner's mind. Learners must be able to raise questions, seek answers and discover truths behind any phenomenon- whether economic, historical, mathematical, biological, geographical, political or climatic. The ultimate goal of introducing different subject streams to students from a young age is primarily to give birth to curiosities in their minds and hearts!

The Indian people, historically, have referred to the subject matter of Economics as Arthashastra. The term Arthashastra originates from the Sanskrit words Artha, meaning objectives; the objective of acquisition of material wealth, pursuit of career and also home life and Shastra meaning treatise or book.

The English term Economics on the other hand is derived from the ancient Greek word Oikonomiaand has been defined by the Greek Philosopher Aristotle, as a science of household management.

The Arthashastra, the magnum opus attributed to Chanakya, is a 4th century BCE Indian treatise on economics, politics, military strategy, the functions of the state and social organisation. The title has also been translated, for the sake of the western world, as The Science of Political Economy, setting fundamental guidelines for human beings in pursuit of wealth and social status.

Chanakya in his role as the chief economist, teacher, royal advisor and Prime Minister to King Chandragupta Maurya helped in establishing the reign of the Mauryan Empire. The Arthashastra is an internationally acclaimed text on statecraft, often compared to and also studied in conjunction with The Prince, a 16th Century BCE political treatise by Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli.

These two ingenious minds belonging to the east and the west and separated by centuries of existence in social, religious, economic and political environment continue to be studied in conjunction at the university level by those who wish to enlighten themselves with the principles on which successful states function.

Not too long ago, about 1000 years back,when India was considered the Education Capital of the World, Indian universities and ashrams followed a multi-disciplinary approach to teaching and learning. At the time, Arthashastra was studied with an integral approach and in combination with politics, mathematics, human behaviour and policy making, as compared to the simplistic view of the modern-day economics courses which concern themselves only with the phenomenon of production and consumption of goods and services.

At the time The Arthashastra was written, in 4th century BCE, the economics of nations was largely agrarian. Many centuries later, economist Adam Smith, in his book The Wealth of Nations published in 1776, identified land, labour, and capital as the three factors of production and the major contributors to a nation's wealth, this was distinct from the previously held physiocratic idea that only agriculture was productive. The mind of an economics student, when trained in the principles such as those enshrined in The Arthashastra, becomes increasingly observant to the facts and truths of any phenomenon. Therefore, the study of economics, which is based on logic, reason, problem solving, circumstantial awareness and evidence, equips any student to not only comprehend human behaviour, decisions and reactions but also be able to recognize resources as scarce in relation to human needs. As a result, a successful economics student, in her role as consumer, producer, government or householder will be effective atresource allocation, resource management and also at establishing resource self-sufficiency.

Subject terminology, definitions of words expressing economic phenomenon's, graphs, tables, formulas and numerical; all are an integral part of the understanding the subject matter of Economics, which is both a science and an art.

(The Author is an educationist who is currently working on documenting her observations on children's play and learning experiences)