Kautilya’s The Arthashastra: A Marxist and Psychoanalytical Reading of Select Chapters in Book I.

Abstract

In the proposed paper, we attempt to make use of some highly influential theories such as Marxist theory and Psychoanalytical Theory to analyze the pioneering work on statecraft and political psychology namely The Arthashastra by Kautilya (370-283BC) a classical discourse, which is highly relevant even today. For instance, the paper uses the concepts propounded by Louis Althusser and Antonio Gramci. Althusser’s concept of ‘state power’ and ‘state control’ along with Gramci’s concept of ‘rule’ and ‘hegemony’ is associated with Kautilya’s technique of ‘demonstrating omniscience’ of the king which is described in Book I, chapter X1. Kautilya refers in Book I, chapter IX about ‘ambition’ and ‘lust’ as the general methods in tackling clandestine agents for protecting the best interests of the King. Such an idea wouldn’t have dawned upon Kautilya unless he makes an intense probe into the fundamental nature of human psyche. This fact becomes even more surprising because it was written in 4th century when there hadn’t been any systematic and established body of knowledge on human mind and the unconscious as we have today in the 21st century.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s2p678