2022, Vol. 8, Issue 5, Part C

The particular focus of this article will be on the first prakarana (chapter) of the sixth adhikarana (book) which is titled as prakritisampad: which mentions the qualities of all the seven elements of the body politic called Saptanga of Indian political theory. Through just a handful of sutras on the qualities of an ideal king, Chanakya has provided to us invaluable nuggets of leadership virtues which can prove to be a great determining factor in one’s professional as well as personal life. The brief portion concerned with the qualities of a king is an absolute power-packed manual for aspiring leaders who can discover several mantras of success in this prakarana. Therefore, the discourse initiated by Chanakya in the chapter of prakritisampad: is relevant for every one of us and hence, analysis of the related four sutras (6.1.3-6.1.6) becomes pertinent here.

Even though the leadership qualities and ideas discussed by Chanakya in the sutras mentioned above will be analysed in a special perspective of the modern business and organizational settings, this analysis will be undertaken through the linguistic interpretation of the sutras as written in the primary text Arthashastra. The application of the nuances discovered through the text-oriented interpretation into business discourse will be, therefore, the primary concern of this paper.