Respected
teachers, students and colleagues,
|
I
|
am very happy to be here once again to deliver
on Arthashastra of Kautilya. I cordially welcome you all. It was during 2005 I
was invited by Dr. Ramachandran to introduce my research work on Arthashastra
which I had then submitted to Kerala Sahithya Academy. After a decade I was
again invited for introducing my latest research work “Kautilya Unleashed”
printed and published by Partridge, A penguin Random Company, United Kingdom. I
express my heartiest gratitude to Dr. Sabu Philip and Dr. Sukumaran for this
covetable honour.
When
I am appearing before you now, there are two remarkable questions of which,
answers bring big happiness in my career as a writer. The questions; why I
wrote one more work on Arthashastra? Why these works are inspiring the
academicians of this institution? I believe that Goddess of learning has
reverently blessed me, my book and this institution profoundly and that’s my
answers to the questions. “Kautilya Unleashed” is my eighth work which has its
own reasons to be proud of. It is my first work in English and secondly it is
the work that honoured by Penguin, United Kingdom.
“Kautilya Unleashed” is the fruitful effort of my
decadal intellectual meditation and research exercise. I hope that the effort
will continue. I am sure that this work will energize and inspire the readers
to work for the re-building of the self, society, state and the world. The book
I hope will attract more readers and be an essential guide to the global
citizen. Compared to other books of its kind, it is the simplified version of
management philosophy that the students of management and the general readers
could easily follow and encapsulate.
It is my unquenchable thirst for translating the
pragmatic philosophy for the common man that resulted in the writing of the
book. The practical philosophy I invented and got inspired is the Philosophy of
Human Resource Development that inherent in the great Indian classic
Arthashastra of Kautilya-the cosmic guru, the father of management, who wrote
the Bible of Administration and Management.
The core philosophy of Arthashastra of Kautilya is
the ever-acclaimed Indian philosophy Prithvilabham and Prithvipalanam.
While equating with the terminology of management, we could synonymize Prithvilabham
to Acquisition of resources and Prithvipalanam to Retention of
resources. We know that the three enabling factors of Human Resource
Development (HRD) are; a). Acquire or sharpen the capabilities, b). Developing
of general capabilities, and c). Developing of organizational culture. According
to Arthashastra of Kautilya these three factors are termed as Prithvilabham,
i.e. Acquisition of capabilities Yogakshema, i.e. Development of capabilities
and Attainment of Yogakshema-A welfare state Prithvipalanam , i.e. Development of organizational culture- Retention of Yogakshema. As a result of this HRD administration, the salary
scale of the right people is fixed so as to enable their
Physical as well as the meta-physical needs in consonance with the principles
of Dharma and Artha, the two out of four constituents of Purushartha.
Arthashastra
of Kautilya emphasizes more on the duties and responsibilities of people rather
than chartering on the rights and privileges of the people. The three-fold
duties as Kautilya put forth are 1). Rakshana i,e, Protection of the
state, 2). Palana i,e, Maintenance of law and order, 3). Yogakshema
i,e, safeguarding the welfare of the state. The duty of the king or the ruler; the
people or the ruled is, to forecast the misfortune, to prevent the misfortune and
to ensure the welfare and prosperity of the state and its people. It might be
either sensitive or paradoxical to comment that, ours is a society more
concerned with the rights and privileges rather than the duties or
responsibilities. In such a right-conscious society, the implementation of the
principles of Arthashastra will be precariously dubious. But Kautilya made it
workable on the five-fold strategies i.e. the Panchatantra he designed.
They are: - 1). Chakravarti, Centralized monarchy, 2). Purushartha,
Spiritual civil code 3). Dhandaneethi, the law of administration 4). Nigraha,
Annihilation of enemy, 5). Prithvi, Free from religious
fundamentalism. Applying these strategies, the source and acquisition of Artha
(Territory, Resources and people) are ensured and retained. This science of wealth and welfare is known as
Arthashastra.
The
science of wealth and welfare or the science of administration in the broadest
sense is comprised of three sciences or shastras known as Anweeshiki
(Philosophy), Thrayi (Three Vedas) and Vartha (Economics).
These tri-factors are exercised on the strong basis of Purushartha (Dharma,
Artha, Kama and Moksha) so as to attain the security and welfare of the
State and People through the self-discipline of the King. This self-discipline
of the King or ruler or leader based on the science of administration also reminds
us Gandhian Philosophy. Because the three-fold economic activity (Vartha)
consists of 1). Agriculture, 2). Animal husbandry, 3). Trade and commerce; in
fact, are the basis Gandhian philosophy and economics. When a State is not
conscious of these grass-root level economic activities, the State will end up
with material distress and destruction. According to Kautilya only the King or
Ruler or Leader could overcome these unpleasant material calamities.
The
Philosophy of HRD and Arthashastra is to be discussed in this context. The
creative role of human element and its decisive play in the administration is
very remarkable in Arthashastra. It is highly praise-worthy that the human
resources (Vishti) have been accounted for in those days while preparing
the profit and loss account or the balance sheet of the state. In the wider
sense we may call this as Human Resource Accounting. It is a fact that we have
invented Human Resource Accounting very recently and we neither applying nor
implementing this concept effectively so far. The text Naikam Chakram
Paribramathi (One wheel alone does not move the chariot) implies
the theory of co-ordination and the essentiality of human resource dynamism in
an administrative system. The acquisition of human resource or Prakrithi
on the basis of three sciences or shastras known as Anweeshiki (Philosophy),
Thrayi (Three Vedas) and Vartha (Economics) is the real
attainment of socialism. Prakriti Sampatha hyanayakamapi rajyam niyathe
is the text that reminds us the Marxian Theory that the in the final stage
“the state withers away” and the people are ruled automatically even
without a ruler [Nayak]. The King or the ruler (Nayak) who is expert in
all these sciences or Shastras and attains the mental state of the
proper equilibrium to do good to the people is known as Rajahrishi
(HRM/HRD Expert). Here Rajahrishi plays the role of a father and treats
the subject as his son and a sort of Administrative Paternalism rules over the
State and work for the attainment of a Welfare State (Yogakshema).
The
public administration in Arthashastra is exercised through three major
portfolios namely Niti (Polity), Dhanda (Administration), Prithvilabham
and Prithvipalanam (Management). The Civil Servants are appointed and
checked through four HR tests known as Dharmopadha, Arthopadha, Kamopadha
and Bhayopadha to ascertain the essential HR qualities such as Arthasudhi,
Dharmasudhi, Kamasudhi and Bhayasudhi. Dandaniti (Law of administration)
is exercised through Code of Law branched as Dharmastheeyam (Civil Laws)
and Kandakashodhanam (Criminal Laws). The Judges discharged their duties
objectively and impartially so that they could earn the trust and affection of
the people. The King never interfered either in the process or in the
exercising of law and order of the State. Administrators as follows are
delegated to ensure the welfare of the State; The Samahartr (Country side)
Pradhesters (Fortified towns and districts) Sthanikas (Districts)
Nagarikas (Cities) Gramikas (Villages) Anthapalas (Frontiers) Adavikas (Hill
tribes).
Dear
teachers and students, research is not the ultimate end; it is but the
beginning to find out the ultimate end beyond. So I invite you to continue my
research to find out the ultimate end beyond. I hope that my work will inspire
and lead you to the newer end. I unleash the unconquerable spirit of Kautilya
once again. I unleash the warhorse. It is the moral responsibility of the
global citizen to curb the spirit of this exceptional gene and to determine the
genesis of posterity and a new world of welfare. Thank you for sharing me and
my book.
Dr.
C.T. William
www.ctwilliam.com
