Agriculture, animal husbandry and trade are the three fundamental vocations which supported most ancient and medieval pre-industrial economies. Ancient India too was not an exception to this and in fact, philosophers and intellectuals of ancient India rightly accorded a lot of significance to these three and they together constituted what came to be known as Vārttā. The term Vārttā has been derived from the term Vṛtti and implies livelihood and the branch of knowledge needed to earn one’s living. Vārttā has been practised in India since the Sindhu-Sarasvatī Civilisation and the Vaidika texts have copious references to agriculture and animal husbandry as well as a few to trade also. By the beginning of the Mauryan Age (4th century BCE) Vārttā was recognised as a branch of knowledge and most Indic texts consider Vārtta to be one of the foremost responsibilities of a king and make it obligatory for him to provide his subjects with the same. Vārtṭā came to be associated with the puruṣārtha of Artha and the Manu Smṛti in fact states that all the three puruṣārthas of Dharma, Artha and Kāma do good to human existence (Man Smṛ 2.224) . The present article takes an overview of the evolution Vārttā as a core concept of Ancient Indian Economy through the study of select texts starting with Kauṭilya’s Arthśāstra.
Author: Sneha NagarkarPublished: 13 April 2020
Language(s): English
Content Type(s): Text
Region(s): Asia
Link: https://www.indica.today/long-reads/vartta-in-ancient-india/