The Prince

Title: The Prince
Author: Niccolo Machiavelli
Translator: W. K. Marriott
Publisher: Fingerprint! Classics, 2025 (First published 1532)
ISBN: 9789354406683
Pages: 174

Please look up the meaning of 'Machiavellianism' and 'Machiavellian' in any dictionary. The specific meaning assigned to the first in Merriam-Webster is that 'the view that politics is amoral and that any means however unscrupulous can justifiably be used in achieving political power', while the second term is defined as 'marked by cunning, duplicity or bad faith'. Not an edifying principle, obviously. Even though all the states, whether old or new, practised them for survival, the moment a keen political observer put it in a language to be understood by a medieval European potentate, it became wily, unscrupulous and cunning advice! Kautilya’s Arthashastra foreshadowed this discourse by eighteen centuries and that treatise is also attributed to be heartless, manipulative and - not altogether strangely - Machiavellian! Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher and historian who lived during the Italian Renaissance. 'The Prince' is dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici in the hope of landing on a plum job. This hardback volume is a collector's item to any serious reader.

Machiavelli spent over a decade navigating the treacherous landscape of Italian city-states, observing the brutal and effective tactics of leaders like Cesare Borgia. In 1512, the fall of the Florentine Republic and the return of the Medici family led to his immediate dismissal, followed by imprisonment and torture. Forced into exile at his country estate, he pivoted to writing as a desperate attempt to remain intellectually engaged with the political world. In 1513, he composed 'The Prince' which was essentially a 'job application' intended to win back the favour of the Medici. It took a radical departure from medieval idealism, focusing instead on political realism (realpolitik). Machiavelli argued that for a ruler to maintain state stability, they must be prepared to act immorally if the specific situation demands it. By strictly separating ethics from governance, he challenged the long-held notion that a successful leader must always be a 'good man' in the religious sense. Today, Machiavelli is regarded as the father of modern political science, for his cold-eyed, unsentimental analysis. In the dedication of his work, Machiavelli declares that he has nothing of value greater than this study which contains knowledge of the actions of great men, acquired by long experience in contemporary affairs and a continual study of antiquity.

The book starts with the definition of a principality, how many types there are, how they can be acquired, how they can be kept and why they are lost. Military is not everything. Although one may be very strong in armed forces, yet in entering a province, one has need of the goodwill of the natives. If the conquered province differs in language or customs or laws, it is better the prince stays in the province and tame the people with moderation. The prince should make himself the head and defender of his less-powerful neighbours and try to weaken the more powerful amongst them. War is not to be avoided and is only deferred to one's own disadvantage. Machiavelli gives the example of Louis XII losing his possessions in Italy by contravening his principles of statecraft.

Democracy in any form was unheard of in Italy at that time. Machiavelli introduces two types of monarchic states. The first one is in which the prince is assisted by his servants functioning as ministers whom he assigns to various provinces and the other is in which the prince is assisted by barons with provincial roots who are not amenable to transfer to any other place. The empire of the Turks was of the former variety which makes it difficult to conquer, but is easy to hold once it is gained. Similar was the empire of Darius which Alexander conquered. The author identifies fortune and goodwill as two unstable things on which a prince must not count on too much. The insults or losses suffered by the nobles is a prickly issue and it is not easy to get past old wrongs. He warns the prince that one who believes that new benefits will cause great personages to forget old injuries is deceived. Unethical injunctions appear at this point. If a prince assumes power by wicked means, but if it was applied at one blow and was necessary to one's security and that are not persisted afterwards, people forget and forgive such men. Injuries ought to be inflicted all at once while benefits are to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer. When people receive goodness from a prince of whom they were expecting evil, they are bound more closely to their benefactor. Machiavelli is under no delusion about the potential of violence. The chief foundations of all states are good laws and good arms. There cannot be good laws when the state is not well-armed. He reiterates that where they are well-armed, they have good laws. The prince should be wary of mercenary troops, as they are ambitious and unfaithful. In peacetime, they rob the state. They are valiant before friends, but cowardly before enemies.

A good portion of the treatise is dedicated to advise on how the prince should handle war and should appear to the people. A prince ought to have no other thought than war and its rules and discipline, for this is the sole art that upholds his position. A prince who does not understand it cannot be respected by his soldiers. He should exercise it either by action or by study. Sometimes, if a prince follows virtue, it would lead to his ruin and if he follows vice, that would bring him security and prosperity. A prince should appear liberal and liberality should be expressed in a way to bring reputation for it. If his liberality becomes excessive, he'd have to raise taxes and he will be reproached for this. If he is able to engage in enterprises without burdening the people, they will overlook even if he is mean. As far as possible, the money he spends for liberality should not be his or his subjects', but of somebody else’s - like pillage. A prince who keeps his subjects united and loyal need not mind the reproach of cruelty. It is better than one showing too much mercy and cause disorders to arise. It is much safer for a prince to be feared than loved. Generally, people are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly and covetous, and they have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared. A prince should keep his hands off the property of his subjects because men are more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony. He should avoid being hated.

As Machiavelli believes, the job of a dynamic prince is the ever-continuing persuasion of the subjects to hold him in high esteem even though he may be paying only lip-service to his principles. He proposes a detailed recipe for the prince to remain deceitful. He claims that the populace is in general bad, and will not keep faith with the prince. This makes it justifiable for the prince not to keep faith with them. But he should disguise this behaviour and appear good, thereby being a great pretender and dissembler. The prince should appear to be merciful, faithful, humane, upright and most important of all, religious. His underlying reason for this duplicity is that everyone sees what you appear to be, but few really know what you are, and those few dare not oppose you against the opinion of the many. A wise prince should craftily foster some animosity against himself so that having crushed it, his renown may rise higher. The prince ought to keep wise men as advisors and to give them the liberty of speaking the truth to him, but only of those things of which he enquires. If everybody starts speaking the truth, respect for the prince abates. The vulnerability of the people should be exploited, as suggested by the Italian Kautilya. If the prince had inflicted some injury on people and if those injured are poor and scattered, they cannot and will not strike back.

The translation of the book from Italian is done by W.K. Marriott, who has done a clean job by sticking to the original archaic style as far as possible. In fact, he does it a little too well in that the focus is on producing an exact, literal rendering of the original, rather than a paraphrased version more adapted to modern notions of style, expression and narrative. In order to appreciate all of Machiavelli's points and rhetoric, the reader needs to have a good knowledge of the classics and medieval Italian history when Popes had sons and they interfered in secular authority with a fervour that was in no way inspired by the divine. As is expected, gender equality was not a concern for this medieval text. Machiavelli compares fortune to a woman the prince courts. If he wishes to keep her subservient, it was necessary to beat and ill-treat her! And, she is said to be a lover of young men, because they are less cautious, more violent and with more audacity command her.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 4 Star

Aristotle

Title: Aristotle – Understanding the World’s Greatest Philosopher
Author: John Sellars
Publisher: Pelican Books, 2023 (First)
ISBN: 9780241615638
Pages: 128

Aristotle was undoubtedly the greatest philosopher of the Western world whose immense clout guided quests for knowledge in Europe for several centuries. He was the last word on points of contention among scholars. Even in the modern world, he has an assured place in the pantheon of philosophers. Though many people will be put off by the term 'philosophy', it means only a rational study of the fundamentals of a given thing. Some part of philosophical enquiry every human should do because it is the only route to a happy life in the fullest sense. It's an extension of our natural human curiosity. One who wonders at the beauty and complexity of the natural world through a TV documentary is also participating in the same activity that Aristotle and his companions did. This short book is ideal for novices like me getting aware of the complexities of philosophical thought. It provides nothing in detail, and acts only as a primer. The author himself admits that this book does not cover anything in depth but gives only a taste, an opportunity, to get a flavour of who Aristotle was, what he thought and his vast impact. John Sellars is an academic, being a lecturer in philosophy at Royal Holloway University in London. He is the author of many books which are translated into over a dozen languages. This book claims that Aristotle's ideas and concepts are the basis of our natural ways of thinking in science, philosophy or logic.

Aristotle was the disciple of Plato, who himself was a disciple of Socrates. Aristotle has derived many ideas from Platonic thought and Sellars introduces the salient points of Plato's ideas in a highly simplified way, but even this treatise may appear cumbersome in some places. Plato put forward his theory of ideal forms. The objects we encounter in the changing physical world are but copies of more perfect, unchanging ideal forms. Aristotle was a strident critic of his teacher Plato while also remaining deeply influenced by him. Aristotle's 'physics' is the study of the natural world. In it, he tackles the most fundamental questions connected to the study of nature – like causation, divisibility and infinity. It includes some wild guesses like spontaneous generation of some species in the flora and fauna of the world. However, it should be taken as no more than an educated guess until truth is uncovered through further observation. Sellars notes with regret that there are some influential modern books which depict Aristotle in a very bad light as to appear like a champion of superstition and conservatism. They imply that Aristotle loathed experiments of any kind and fully immersed only in mental exercises. I remember reviewing a book claiming that Aristotle believed that women had more teeth in their mouth than men, yet he did not care to verify this hypothesis even though he had married twice! This is untrue and it is clear that Aristotle studied lifeforms extensively while he was in Lesbos Island and dissected them for analysis.

The author introduces the books in the traditional sequence of Aristotle's logical works one by one and very briefly. The logical arguments and conclusions that are derived from them are examined. So are the peculiar way of some arguments initiated by the great philosopher. Opening a claim like 'for the sake of argument' and pursue wherever it goes is a method put forth by Aristotle. To argue for and against a particular view in order to test it is another tool in his arsenal. Aristotle classified data related to animals and in his logical works set out formal rules for further analysis on this data. This is clearly a part of the modern 'scientific method'. To have done either of these would have been a major achievement, to have done both is truly awe-inspiring. He believed that the role of human beings is the activity of the soul in accordance with reason, or rational thinking, to understand the world around us.

Even though Aristotle's reputation transcends time and reaches out to us still, some of his ideas are stunningly outdated and some are politically incorrect to express in today's society. Whatever may be one's intellectual merit, everybody is a prisoner of the zeitgeist and perhaps unknowingly it restricts the range of one's thought. Likewise, Aristotle justified slavery or at least didn't find any qualms in keeping slaves himself. He claimed that some people can legitimately be described as 'natural slaves' and that women are naturally ruled by men. The author then holds his nose and supports this assertion by alluding the term 'natural slave' as someone who is mentally impaired and in need of someone else's help, yet concedes that Aristotle seems to assume that it is perfectly normal for most households to include slaves. Regarding women, he does a tight-rope walk by claiming that 'by nature' might mean 'for the most part' or 'usually what happens'. Aristotle was also biased towards the ideal of the 'city state' as a political unit to live under. If a man is focussed entirely on subsistence, he is closer to an animal. A rich human life which requires contemplation mandates a reflective intellectual pursuit. A city-state provides the infrastructure to make it happen. Even though Aristotle was Alexander the Great's tutor, there is no real evidence of any influence between them. Aristotle makes no mention of Alexander in his works and there is no trace of any of Aristotle's ideas shaping Alexander's subsequent behaviour.

This book really has a large scope in picturizing Aristotle's contribution to the society he lived in. His writings on the art forms such as drama or play still find relevance in today's art even though cinema has fully appropriated what was originally meant for the exclusive use of plays. The book contains an analysis of Athenian drama and its components. Aristotle thought about why people enjoyed tragic plays. We can enjoy, he says, a pleasurable release when we experience extreme emotions such as pity and fear. He calls this a moment of purification in which any excess of these emotions get cleared, restoring us to a state of balance. We enjoy them because we know in our mind that even though we may be sharing the emotions of the characters, at the end of the play we can go back to the comfort of our homes. A work of art can prompt us to experience difficult emotions in a relatively safe and artificial setting helping us to process the real emotions that befall us in our own lives. The idea of philosophy is anointed with a touch of elitism as conceived by great masters such as Aristotle. Leisure was one of the things required for anyone to do philosophy. You should not be overburdened with distracting practical responsibilities and to have basic necessities of life provided for. It is absolutely not intended for menial labourers whose wages would not allow them to skip work for any meaningful length of time. Lyceum was a community of scholars in this sense, of individuals wealthy enough not to have to work all day.

As noted earlier, this book is an excellent primer for stepping into the world of philosophy and highly recommended for novices who are serious about the job. Ordinary readers may better leave it aside.

Rating: 4 Star

Living Ramayanas

Title: Living Ramayanas – Exploring the Plurality of the Epic in Wayanad and the World
Author: Azeez Tharuvana
Translator: Obed Ebenezer S
Publisher: Eka, 2021 (First published in Malayalam: 2014)
ISBN: 9789390679737
Pages: 252

Ramayana is one of the original sources that make up the soul of India. Irrespective of the caste, creed, ethnicity or language of the people, this epic is known to every Indian worth the name. What is astonishing is its wide circulation even among societies which stay aloof from the mainstream such as Adivasis. Quite naturally, when an idea seeps down to every nook and cranny of the country, especially when the means and quality of communication were sparse and unreliable, a lot of subtle changes occur in the narrative as it changes hands across speakers spanning generations. Before the advent of writing or with illiterate people, the transfer of ideas happens only through the storage medium of human memory which is fallible. Besides, story tellers with a flair for the job embellish it to rivet the attention of the listeners. As a consequence, numerous variations of the Ramayana core tale occurred over the millennia. Ramayana continually adapted itself to the nature of the times, the people and the culture in which it has been produced. This work is translated from the Malayalam text ‘Wayanadan Ramayanam’. It examines the different versions circulating among tribal communities of Wayanad, in other states of India and also among overseas countries. This work is a partial record of the author’s research conducted under the guidance of Dr. A. Nujum. Azeez Tharuvana is a native of Wayanad and served as assistant director of the Institute for Tribal Studies and Research. He is currently professor and head of the department of Malayalam at Farook College, Kozhikode.

Among the tribal communities of Wayanad, there exist unique beliefs relating to the Ramayana story. Even within the same tribe, there are many different versions of the same legend. The tribal people use these versions of the Ramayana to justify their ritual beliefs, to trace their ancestry and to glorify their lineage. The book introduces three variations in common use in Wayanad and condenses the stories. There are similarities between them. The Adiya Ramayana, popular among the Adiya community, places the characters in Wayanad and the story unfolds there. Lanka is also in Wayanad. Ordinary human emotions and actions are attributed to the divine characters. In one of these, a dispute breaks out between Ram and Sita when the former discovers stones and sand in the gruel prepared by the latter! The native narratives link various locations like Sitakulam, Ashramkolly, Sasimala, Ponkuzhy, Thirunelli etc. in Wayanad to particular episodes in their version of the epic. Sitayanam and Wayanad Chetty Ramayana are also examined, where the latter is not much different from the standard version. In various regions of Wayanad, Lava and Kusa (Ram’s children) are called by different names such as Lavakuchan, Muriken, Atharvalar and so on. Many legends exist that link geological features such as streams, waterfalls, natural springs and rocks with the characters of Ramayana. There is a tributary of Kabani named Kannuneerpuzha (stream of tears) which is believed to have been formed by Sita’s tears at her abandonment by Ram.

Even though the author constantly endeavours to portray Dalits and Adivasis as separate from the Hindu fold, the nature of their beliefs and rituals scatter his arguments to the winds. Eventually, he helplessly concedes that savarna gods were incorporated by the Adivasis into their songs, but still raises a feeble caveat that these were modern. On the ground, the influence of Ramayana is genuine and rock-solid. The folk interpretation of mythological tales in Wayanad are inseparably linked to its landscape. This is similar to the relationship Indian epics have with Mount Kailash and the Himalayas and with the forest and forest-dwellers. Each tribal community appears to be a part of the Hindu caste hierarchy and aspires to rise higher by using legends, exactly like other castes do. Each community believes themselves to be noble. The genesis myth of Kurichyas claims that the Brahmins and Kurichyas are the noblest of Brahma’s creations. They are the only two pure castes on earth (p.61). Kurichyas believe themselves to be Ram’s soldiers. The Adivasis further believe that the traditional healing methods they use were taught to them by Shiva himself. And, Azeez treats them as non-Hindus! The book notes that Kerala was a stronghold of Buddhism in the ancient times and Wayanad was especially raised under the umbrella of Jainism. If these assumptions were true, we should have seen the Ramayana stories in Wayanad interspersed with Jain themes or at least influenced by them as seen in other parts of India. However, Azeez fails to mention any specific sway in the Wayanad folk tales that can be attributed to Buddhism or Jainism.

The book is very informative and provides many original snippets of knowledge regarding how Ramayana is so closely woven into the social fabric of Wayanad tribals. In spite of this, a wicked agenda is clearly discernible in the narrative. The author treats Dalits and Adivasis separate from Hindus and lets out comments like ‘the Hindus and Adivasis here both believe that this is the place where Sita devi disappeared into the earth’ (p.45). There are several references like this inserted casually into the text which try to drive a wedge right through the heart of Hindu society. In another instance, the book observes that several insertions have been added to the text of the Valmiki Ramayana to buttress and reinforce the concept of caste or Brahmin supremacy. Even though couched differently, the objective is the same. This is no wonder if you look back to the pre-partition days in India when the Muslim League was using the same technique using the same words. According to the author, the Adivasis seem to be oppressed and exploited only by the upper caste Hindus whereas all religious communities, including the Muslims and Christians in Wayanad do so. The foreword provided by K N Panikkar praises the author for ‘conducting the study by closely interacting with the tribal-Dalit-religious communities’. See the Left-Islamist cabal of historians harping on the same disruptive tune again and again? The author’s project guide for the research was Dr. A Nujum of the Aligarh Muslim University. He concludes that ‘when a dominant society gains the tendency to swallow up other smaller civilizations and sub-cultures, they resist by producing a thousand oral traditions’. The author is employed as a teaching faculty of the Farook College which is managed by the Islamic Rouzathul Uloom Association. Being so, Azeez should have shown a bit of decency and courtesy in denigrating the religious sensibilities of Hindus with statements like ‘Ramayana is not a historical text. It is a myth’.

The book introduces multiple versions of the Ramayana in vogue in other countries such as China, Japan, Southeast Asia and Central Asia. Whichever land had any interactions with India, possess a piece of Ramayana story as a relic of the relationship. It is interesting to learn that Muslim communities in these nations also have internalized this story. In Malaysia and Indonesia, Allah, Adam, Gabriel and others from Islamic lore and faith figures are seen in the Ramayana versions. They assume the positions of Brahma, Vishnu and other deities of the Hindu faith (p.157). The chapter titled ‘Muslims and the Ramayana’ tries to reconcile Islamic tenets with Hindu ones to suggest a syncretic product. In a veiled reference to the famous Gita couplet sambhavami yuge yuge, the author claims Muslims believe that ‘whenever righteousness is threatened and society suffers moral and spiritual decay, prophets make their appearance in different parts of the world’ (p.149). This appears to be a deliberate falsehood to gain acceptance among other communities. Finality of the prophecy of Muhammad is a fundamental and irrepudiable concept of Islam. This means that there will be no prophets after Muhammad even if righteousness or morality is compromised.

Azeez provides a good simile to the spread of Ramayana far and wide. As water flowing through different lands mingles with the colour of soils along the way, our legends and myths too, as they travel across lands and communities, mingle with their environs and sensibilities. True to the title, the book surveys Ramayanas in the major Indian languages as well as Persian and Urdu. Ramayanas composed by Muslim poets in Kerala’s mappilappattu style and Arabic are also introduced. A determined effort was made in the Mughal times under Akbar to translate Hindu holy texts to Persian. He employed Badauni to translate Ramayana who modified some parts of it with the result that it came to be called ‘Akbar Ramayana’. Azeez describes the project as a happy labour of love but hides the real purpose of Badauni who undertook the work and his personal motive behind it. Without going into the details, let me say that it is not at all music to the ears and reflects exactly what we would expect from a bigot even today. To know more about Badauni’s attitude, see my earlier review of Audrey Truschke’s book, ‘Culture of Encounters – Sanskrit at the Mughal Court’.

The included creation legends of various tribes indicate the presence of Muslims in their midst and appear to be quite modern (p.58). Anyhow, the trait of inclusivity which it witnesses is compatible with the Pan-Indian spirit of tolerance. Even then the author uses his argument to find holes and widen the fault lines in Indian society. The focus of the book centres on the unfinished agenda of the Left-Islamist nexus to project the Ramayana not as a religious text with an authentic version, but instead as numerous versions of secular folk literature that reflect the life of the communities in which these tellings are created. Azeez tries to harp on the differences and variations in the narrative and claims the reason to be the exploitation of these communities by upper castes. He fails to see – or more probably, pretends not to see – that these slightly different versions unite them all together with the main text since these modifications are the earnest effort of these communities to partake a share of the epic poem that binds the nation together on the cultural sphere. This is also an attestation that whether hill or dale, tribal or city-dweller, every part and person in India is tied one way or the other to the national psyche through the Ramayana legend. It’s somewhat amusing that the author still believes in the Aryan invasion theory which speculates that the Aryans invaded India and destroyed the Dravidian-built Indus Valley Culture. This notion is long discarded by eminent academics, particularly in the wake of genetic analyses. Moreover, he treats Dravidian as a human race, rather than a language group – another capital mistake on the part of a serious scholar. The book includes a big glossary. Apart from the chapters on Wayanad and its tribal groups, the other parts feel like a handbook where the information is simply copied from other texts without any value addition.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 2 Star

Economic Sutra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Economic Sutra – Ancient Indian Antecedents to Economic Thought

Author: Satish Y. Deodhar

Publisher: Penguin Random House, 2019 (First)

ISBN: 9780670092864

Pages: 199

 

The field of economic theory and ancient India was long thought to be an oxymoron as the latter was well known for its overarching spirituality in all walks of life. References to ancient non-Western antecedents do not find mention in mainstream literature on the history of economic thought. This is actually an error in perception of the nature of ancient Indian thought which was secular in all aspects affecting ordinary life. This book examines the antecedents of modern economic thought, behaviour and policy as found in the treatises of the ancient Indian subcontinent. This is a part of the IIMA book series on relevant economic concepts organized by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA). It offers an engaging perspective on ancient Indian economic thought by focusing on original and secondary sources. Satish Y. Deodhar teaches economics at IIMA. He is the author of the bestselling book ‘Day to Day Economics’.

 

The first glimpse to ancient Indian thought was facilitated by colonial scholars who learnt Sanskrit as part of their official work. Enquiries in the Islamic period were sporadic and few, like in the lifetimes of Akbar or Dara Shukoh. In that sense, it was the English scholars who lifted the veil on ancient India after a gap of eight centuries. However, they focused only on the other-worldly stream of Indian thought. They interpreted this to be instrumental in the denial of economic betterment and alleviation of poverty in India. Marx was also influenced by this biased opinion, arguing that lack of class conflict prevented India from progressing. As a sequel, Indians were stereotyped as highly spiritual people with a fatalistic outlook. This helped to explain away the abysmal rate of GDP growth in post-independent India as almost a genetic trait inherited from the ancients. This was also disparagingly called the ‘Hindu rate of growth’ when the reason for the slow growth was Nehru’s flawed economic policy which engendered an all-pervasive, state-controlled command economy that shackled the country. When these policies were scrapped in 1991, economic growth shot up to world standards.

 

Deodhar makes a detailed analysis of ideas in ancient Indian thought that specifically deals with economic concepts. Buddha comments householders to acquire wealth through lawful and honourable means. He advised shopkeepers to be shrewd, alert to market conditions and to make a morally justifiable profit (p.31). Even before that, Shukla Yajurveda recognizes four types of commercial activities – agriculture, trade and commerce, animal husbandry and lending at interest. Kautilya, the great political economist of ancient India argued that the ruler must protect the choices of the people in the attainment of purusharthas (goals of man at different stages of life), of which artha (amassing of wealth) was the foremost in his opinion. A charming feature of this book is the great care it lavishes on Tamil classics, which boast of a pedigree comparable to Sanskrit. Thirukural has 700 aphorisms related to wealth. Thiruvalluvar reiterates the Sanskrit purusharthas of dharma, kama, artha and moksha (rightful living, accumulation of wealth, love and happiness and salvation). The idea that wealth brings about further accession of wealth expresses the importance of capital as an input to create more wealth.

 

A superficial discussion on varna and jati and the way Indian society was categorized into numerous jatis (castes) is seen in this book. Varna system was not based on birth and Deodhar claims that it was not hierarchical (p.72). It was the teacher who initiated his pupils into different varnas after studies which the children underwent for many years. Megasthenes, who served as Greek ambassador in Mauryan India mentions that all Indians were free and they did not even consider using foreigners as slaves. This was in stark contrast to Aristotle’s world view which held that some men are by nature slaves and that slavery is both expedient and right. When various crafts and guilds developed, the technology had to be guarded as a secret. This was conveniently done by way of intra-class marriages and dining restrictions. Over time, it got cast into vocations and jatis. Law books such as Manu Smriti caused degeneration of varna system into endogamous groups. It made families perform upanayana (initiation) at an early age of the child rather than a teacher performing it as a commencement ceremony at the end of a 12-year study. The British mixed the concept of race into jati and made them watertight in the bargain.

 

Any discussion on economic thought in India would sooner or later delve into the rich compendium included in the Arthashastra of Kautilya. Luckily, the author spends only a cursory look at the injunctions of Kautilya. He also correlates the concepts with modern society. The ancient preceptor recommends that taxes should be collected the way bees collect honey from flowers. It is also seen that a large differential existed between the top and bottom rungs of imperial jobs. The wage of a minister was 48,000 panas a year while the lowest level public servants received only 60 panas a year. This ratio of 800:1 is an indicator of the large asymmetry in household income. Some amount of state intervention in trade can also be discerned in Arthashastra. It stipulates that the director of trade is to ascertain the cost price after taking into account investment, production, rent, interest, duty and others. For determining the sale price of goods, a 5 to 10 per cent profit for domestic and foreign trade respectively is recommended. Penalties were in place for sale price greater than the permitted markup. Such close intervention in the functioning of markets, if it was indeed in existence, would have resulted in corruption rather than the common folk getting a fair deal.

 

‘Sutra’ is a Sanskrit word that means a string or a thread that holds jewels together. In ancient times, philosophical thoughts, principles and rules were expressed in the form of aphorisms and were written on palm leaves sewn together with a thread. Thus, both figuratively and literally, these writings were called sutras. This book provides a bridge between the elements of pre-Kautilyan economic thoughts and Kautilya’s Arthashastra which is the usual starting point for most researchers on economic theory. Thus we see Panini (700 BCE) mentioning debt and repayment with interest. The notion of expressing interest as a ‘per cent’ of the principal originated in India. Kautilya also talks about varying interest rates for various modes of trade. Higher interest rate was prescribed for money borrowed for risky ventures like overseas trade.

 

The author claims expertise in Sanskrit which he learned at school. This does not seem to be sufficient to extract ideas from ancient texts. In that sense, the author’s claim that he has referred original texts would be in doubt. Still, the amount of research Deodhar has done with secondary sources is impressive. The book takes care not to make the discussion too technical which would have scared the readers away. Readers are also advised not to put too much a premium on the opinions expressed in this book as it is oriented more towards lay people. It includes a crossword at the end in which the clues refer to concepts enunciated in the narrative. Readers are encouraged to try it before and after reading the book and compare the results. Though it looks like comprehension questions in a text book, this provides a measurable parameter of the book’s utility.

 

The book is highly recommended.

 

Rating: 3 Star

 

Confessions

Title: Confessions

Author: Saint Augustine

Translator: Garry Wills

Publisher: Penguin Classics 2006 (First)

ISBN: 9780143039512

Pages: 353

Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 CE), popularly known as Saint Augustine was an early Christian theologian and philosopher, whose writings and speeches influenced the development of Western Christianity. He is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers and was the bishop of Hippo Regius in modern-day Algeria. Among his most important works are ‘The City of God’ and ‘Confessions’. This book is an autobiographical work, consisting of 13 books written in Latin between 397 and 400 CE. This book covers his youth when he led a profligate life, but having a change of mind, adopted Christianity. The text is translated from Latin by Garry Wills, who is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, journalist and historian, specializing in American history, politics and religion, especially the history of the Catholic Church.

The period in which St. Augustine lived had profound impact on Christianity. For long the food of lions in the circus, followers of the religion had at last found patronage during the reign of Constantine, who adopted it and made it the state religion. Though Constantine accepted baptism only on his death bed, royal support for Christianity was enough to make it go places and conquer all Europe under its spiritual realm. Paganism, which was all powerful till then, continued to thrive for some more time, as also Manichaeism, to which Augustine himself subscribed during the early part of his life. He flays it in no uncertain words after his conversion, contradicting its principles with a rationalist viewpoint, which he conveniently buries while reviewing Christian arguments and beliefs which are equally fallacious. Roman statesmen like Cicero attracted large followers by their speeches and writings. In fact, Augustine can’t help remarking that the Scriptures are trivial before Cicero’s majesty. Augustine led a life of loose morals till his conversion. Often, he laments at the insatiable lust welling up in him. Even after he began to sway towards Jesus Christ, he put off baptism for some more years. His prayer to god was to “give me chastity and self-control, but not just yet”.

This book is an autobiography. But in the strictest sense of the term, it is not. Augustine’s long remembrances are addressed to god, recognizing and accepting His supreme authority on all things temporal and everlasting. It is said that this work is the world’s longest literary prayer. God is to be sought within ourselves. The saint’s fervent call to the people is to go back into themselves, to their own inner depths. The author’s appeal to god is passionate and fervent, bordering on eroticism. Consider the phrases, “Slow was I, Lord, too slow in loving you. To you, earliest and latest beauty, I was slow in love. You were with me all the while I was not with you, kept from you by things that could not be except by being in you. You shed a perfume – inhaling it, I pant for you. For your taste, I hunger and thirst. At your caress, I am feverish for satiation” (p.234). Now, replace the words ‘Lord’ and ‘God’ with ‘beloved’ or ‘darling’ and see the beautiful song of love emerging out of meaningless spiritual affectation! At the same time, we also see the curtain of monotheistic intolerance rising to come to fruition in the Middle-Ages in Europe. The strict puritanical code he envisages cuts out music, pictures, art and things going beyond the norms of utility. Strict interpretation of religious edicts is followed by insistence of total surrender to god’s will, even at the cost of one’s free will and all things which make life beautiful and meaningful. Augustine’s bent to such puritanical creed is comparable to that of Taliban and the Islamic State at present, proving the point that theocracies are the same everywhere, whatever may be the religion in question.

Augustine was born in 354 CE at Thagaste in modern day Algeria. His mother, Monica, was a devout Christian, but his father was a pagan who converted to Christianity on his death bed. Augustine studied Latin literature and rhetoric at Carthage. He left church to follow the Manichaean religion which was resented by his mother. He lived a hedonistic lifestyle, entering into many illicit relationships, the longest of which lasted fourteen years that also begot a son. He ended the relationship in order to marry a ten-year old heiress. The author could not master Greek, but the shortfall was more than compensated by his prodigious proficiency in Latin. Disturbed by unruly students, he moved to Rome and then to Milan, where he met the city’s charismatic bishop Ambrose, who turned out to be his spiritual mentor. He diverted the author from a life of licentiousness. At the age of 31, Augustine converted. His son also followed suit, but died soon after.

There are no footnotes or glossary on the incidents and characters mentioned in the autobiography. It is quite hard to appreciate the reputation and significance of the formidable people and curious incidents mentioned in the text, without a glossary. Readers are driven to refer to other sources for getting more details on them. The book does not include an index, which is a somewhat serious flaw in undermining the book’s utility as an item of reference. Augustine’s narrative is laborious and full of rhetoric and wordplay. It also brings to light some of the social customs prevalent in Italy of the late-fourth century CE. We read about astrologers who are conversant with the movements of stars and heavenly bodies and who made horoscopes accordingly. He says that some of them are so stringent that they deliberately timed the births of even animals so as to coincide with auspicious moments. It is regrettable to note that such people had not gone extinct even with the passage of seventeen centuries and the percolation of the scientific spirit.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 3 Star