Knowledge of Power, as mentioned in Chapter I of Book IX in Arthashastra, advises the conqueror to the comparative strength and weakness of himself and his enemy; and after ascertaining his power, place, time, the time of marching, and of recruiting the army, the consequences, the loss of men and money, and the profit and danger; her should either march with full force or remain silent and observe the movement of his enemy and react accordingly. According to Kautilya a successful king must possess certain qualities which have been elaborately discussed in Life of a King, Book I of Arthashastra which includes that a king should be enthusiastic, courageous, powerful and always willing to proceed for new ventures. As such with the qualities of enthusiasm, courage as well as strength the conqueror is expected to overreach other and achieve success.
Knowledge of Power also makes a comparison between enthusiasm and power in which Kautilya prefers power. While there had been number of debates which question that whether the conqueror should be mere enthusiastic or he should also exhibit his strength as well. Kautilya regards that if a king is powerful he shall be able to win over the enthusiastic king with sheer game of power and bring his brave soldiers and all; his possessions under his control and make his enthusiastic army, elephants, chariots etc move anywhere without any obstruction. A powerful king, whether men or women, can conquer the earth by winning over or purchasing the aids of the enthusiastic king an overreach all his competitors.
Knowledge of Power further makes distinction between power of money and men and skill of intrigues in which Kautilya claims that conqueror who possesses the skill of intrigue is better. He who has the eye of knowledge and is acquainted with science of polity can with little effort makes use of his skill of intrigue and overreach even the enthusiastic and powerful king by applying other methods which include employment of spies as well as other chemical appliances. As such successful conqueror must possess three qualities which include enthusiasm that raises the temptation to conquer an area or the enemy, power without which the conqueror cannot win and the skill of intrigue which shall give insight to the conqueror view the hidden intentions of his enemy. He who possesses all these qualities shall be successful in overreaching others.
Knowledge of Power also mentions that the conqueror should have complete knowledge regarding the country and plan accordingly such works which he shall undertake in accordance with the topography of his kingdom. The country which stretches from the Himalayas in the north and the oceans in the south, which covers a variety of lands and types of topography including the forests, villages, waterfalls, level plains, uneven land as well as wet lands and marshy areas. In such land he should undertake such work as he considers being conducive to his power and prosperity and which shall be beneficial for his conquests. He shall make an assessment regarding the best area in which his army finds a comfortable area for its manoeuvre and which proves unfriendly to his enemy, shall be considered as best and the area which is of reverse nature is worse while the area which can includes both suitable conditions as well as worse whether are the areas of middling quality.
Thus, Knowledge of Power advises the conqueror to proceed only when he has acquired complete knowledge regarding the place, the strength of his army as well as the intention of both his army as well as his enemy`s army. Any negligence of knowledge may bring disastrous end to the conqueror`s mission.
