Matsya Nyaya ( sa, मत्स्यन्याय;

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: mātsyanyāya) is an ancient

Indian philosophy Indian philosophy refers to philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. A traditional Hindu classification divides āstika and nāstika schools of philosophy, depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the Veda ...

which refers to the principle of the ''Law of Fish''. It is described as the fundamental law of nature explained by the proverb of the big fish devouring the smaller fish, hence strong devour the weak. It can be equated to the 'Law of the Jungle'. In simple words, The strong dominates over the weak when there is disorder.

Philosophy

The ancient Indian philosopher

Chanakya Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya o ...

(Kautilya), who was also the chief advisor of the Mauryan emperor

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) was a ruler in Ancient India who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Maurya kingdom expanded to become an empi ...

, used this theory in his treatise

Arthashastra The ''Arthashastra'' ( sa, अर्थशास्त्रम्, ) is an Ancient Indian Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, political science, economic policy and military strategy. Kautilya, also identified as Vishnugupta and Chanakya, is ...

to describe why a state should enhance its size and security. According to Chanakya, in absence of government or rule of law, the human society will degenerate into a state of anarchy in which the strong will destroy or exploit the weak much like how bigger fish eat smaller fish. So according to this philosophy, the theory of government was based on a belief in the innate depravity of man. In other words, this theory proposes that government, rulers and laws are necessary to prevent this natural law of 'Matsya Nyaya' from operating in human society. Hence this explains why there is a need for a government and laws to be in place. Hence, Kautilya stresses the importance of 'danda' (strong authority), as its absence will lead to the law of fishes, i.e, anarchy.

Verses in Arthashastra

References

Bibliography

* ''King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra,'' translated and annotated by

Patrick Olivelle Patrick Olivelle is an Indologist. A philologist and scholar of Sanskrit Literature whose work has focused on asceticism, renunciation and the dharma, Olivelle has been Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions in the Department of Asian Studi ...

, Oxford University Press, 2013 * , especially Book Six: Circle of Kings as the Basis, pp. 305–312 * *

External links

Kautilya Arthashastra
English translation by R. Shamasastry 1956 (revised edition with IAST diacritics and interwoven glossary)
''Arthashastra'' (English)
(Another archive of 1915 R Shamasastry translation) {{Indian philosophy Ancient Indian literature Political theories