ABSTRACT
It is believed Kautilya, whose name was Vishnugupta and is popular as Chanakya (The son of Chanaka) wrote Arthasastra. This article is mainly based on Kautilya's Arthasastra, translated by R. Shamasastry. In the preface of 1(st) to 5(th) edition of this text, the translator Dr. R. Shamasastry tried to clarify the uncertainty regarding the name of the author and the time of the text. Kamandaka and Dandi quotation support the time of this treatise somewhere between 321 and 300 B.C. These quotations also support the authorship of Vishnugupta. According to Kadambari, the author of Arthasastra was Kautilya and according to Manu and Dharmasastras, Chanakya had written this Arthasastra. Though there are some controversies regarding the name of the author and time of this text, translator R. Shamasastry tried his level best in providing proper support for naming this text as Kautilya'sArthasastra as the original available manuscript contains the name of Kautilya at the end of each of the hundred and fifty chapters of the work. Still there is controversy regarding the exact time of this text. If views of many scholars is considered, time of the text can be placed between 3(rd) century B.C. to 3(rd) century A.D. This translated original text contains 15 books (Basic discussions of the text), 150 chapters, 180 sections and 6000 Slokas (Thirty two syllables are considered as one Sloka).
