Political, Economic and Ethical Vision of Shukracharya in Shukra Niti

Abstract

Like many ancient authors in India, Shukracharya too considered politics as an aspect of ethics. He called it moral science or Niti Shastra which he considered as the basis of virtue, wealth, enjoyment and salvation. He was in a view that it is with the help of this science that a ruler can conquer foe and can win a friend. He further added that Nitai Shastra is superior to other sciences because it aims at fulfilment and achievement of desire and interest of all that man seeks and happiness which is their chief end. This paper seeks to reveal Shukracharya's conception of statecraft and triad in king style that is satvika, rajsika and tamsika, and his doctrine of karma and prarabdha. An attempt is also made to bring out his expertise in financial regularity, particularly wage distribution, employer-employee relationship and his conception of so-called financial inclusion, what we call it today. Brihaspati is referred to as a great authority on statecraft by almost every writer on Indian polity in ancient world including Vyasa and Kautilya. This paper is an attempt to discover his conception of origin of a state which is employer-employee relationship list, like done by Hobbes, Lock and Rousseau. His ideas regarding kinship and system of justice are analysed. Brihashpatis’ idea on punishment is useful to many scholars and researchers in legal field.