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Suppression of Wicked Living by Foul Means
Suppression of the Wicked Living by Foul Means mainly includes the role of the spies taken for maintaining the security of the country against some unseen enemies. Chapter IV of Book IV in Arthashastra discusses the contribution of spies in providing this level of security.

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Suppression of the Wicked Living by Foul Means had been mainly intended to verify the upcoming dangers to a country which can be traced by the spies secretly. While much has been discussed regarding the role of the spies in Institution of Spies, the present chapter alongwith this discusses the role of the collector general under whose supervision the spies work.

According to the chapter the collector general is entrusted to employ such spies who are disguised as persons with supernatural powers, persons engaged in ascetics who shall be sent to abroad for collecting information. The spy shall keep information about the rich men who are either commissioner or a judge and try to make friendship with them where he can ask for some recessions for some of his friends on return of some money and in the process assess the character of the judge or superintendent. While the spies shall keep information regarding the rich, similar process shall be applied for the merchants who counterfeit coins. Similar steps for severe punishments shall be administered against the persons who are practicing witchcraft that is harmful for others.

Suppression of the Wicked Living by Foul Means further includes the person who deals with medicines. If any person is suspected of administering poison for hurting people other than those of the enemies shall be marked as dangerous and will be banished accordingly. Similar steps shall be taken against those who deal with the medicines prepared from madana plant. In case of manufacturers those who are suspected of manufacturing counterfeit coins through which he purchases various kinds of metals, alkalis, charcoal, bellows, stoves, hammers etc when detected by the spies and forced to accept his fault, shall be banished. Similar steps shall be taken for those who produce low quality of gold by mixing alloys. Arthashastra traces thirteen kinds of criminals who, secretly attempting to live with foul means, destroy the peace of the country. They shall be either banished or made to pay a huge amount of compensations as according to their guilt which is either light or serious in nature.

Thus, Suppression of the wicked living by foul means has been mainly intended to trace out all those who hamper the peace of the country with their misleading activities. With the help of spies efforts are made to trace the grass root level corruption leading to failure of administration.


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