Chanakya's Niti Darpan

Chanakya the real author of this work, after whose name this book has been named, was one of the Ministers of the Rajah Chandragupta of Magadh Desh, now called Patna, which stands on the banks of the Ganges. It was then an independent sovereignty and ruled by the kings of the Gupta Dynasty, which, on its downfall, was succeeded by the Nanda Dynasty.Chanakya was a great poet and one of the eminent Sanskrit Scholars of his day. Chanakya Niti Darpan means, a looking glass, in which politics by Chanakya may be viewed. It contains 343 couplets and has been divided into 17 chapters, each containing 20 couplets, more or less.This work met with the approval and approbation of every Sanskrit scholar and gained such a publicity that one who had even the least knowledge of the Sanskrit language, could hardly plead his ignorance of this book. Later on, commentaries on Bhasha, or the vernacular language of the country, were published for the use of those who could not understand the original Sanskrit text. Sanskrit Grammar is so difficult that one, without its thorough knowledge, cannot understand Sanskrit sentences or couplets and the perfect mastery of the Grammar means years and years together and sometimes the whole life of a man of middle class intellect.