All World
Gayatri Pariwar

In the beginning, there were some specific people who kept every activity of others under observation. In course of time this necessity became an integral part of the state functioning. With the birth of state as a political organization, this information gathering also took an organised form, and began to be used freely for social and political developmental purposes. By the time of the Rigveda, this system had become well developed. This is attested by the Vedic hymns:- 

[Meaning: The spies (spasha) who are of fleeting movement and are catchers of the wrongdoers are placed everywhere. Their eyelids never blink and their voice is sweet. With unwavering loyalty, these spies are the protectors of the thousands of inhabitants of the nation, and they put fear in the minds of the wicked in different places of activity.] 

The literary sources of the time attest that the institution of state had acquired quite a developed form during Vedic times. Hence existence of an espionage system for maintenance of peace and order is no surprise. Ancient sources give description of Varun as the first king (aadi samraat). The details make clear that the later Vedic kings not only adopted the nature, attributes and powers of Varun but also drew from him the authority to monitor the activities of anti-social elements and punish them. 

In the Rigvedic and later Vedic periods, with the progress in urbanisation the Aryans had grown apprehensive of the uncultured, semi-civilized and barbaric tribes. Because of increasing crimes against society, property and life, the Vedic people were living a life of fear and disturbance. In Vedic hymns, there are detailed descriptions of the insecure status of the society, and so prayers have been made to the pantheon of deities to not only protect them from natural calamities and accidents but also from dasyus, non-aryans and anarchical elements. Alongside the prayers, the Indian thinkers also decided to develop a mechanism for providing protection to the society and for contributing to its overall progress. 

This system had provision for appointing spasha or spies at different levels in the state with varying duties and powers. Different nomenclatures were coined to indicate different functions. Their references are found scattered here and there in the sources—the Mahabharat, the Ramayan, Manusmriti, Kamandak and Shukraniti, Kiratarjuniyam, Mudrarakshas Uttar Ramcharita drama, Muktikalpataru, Arthashastra of Kautilya, Smriti and other literary works. The multiple terms in respect of espionage are — char, pranidhi, prahit, apsarpa, sanchar, purusha, gudha purusha, aant, pratyaayit, pathik, utpathik, upanishad, ubhayavetana, kapatik, udaasthit, gahapatik, vaidehak, papas, satrin, tikshna, rasad, bhikshuki, karnejak, suchak, daatra, kirat, yampattik, ahitundik, shaindik, shaubhik, paatachchar, vit, vidushak, peethmard, vaitalik, ganak, shakunik, bhishag, naimittik, sood, araalik, samvaahak, jad etc. etc. 

References to spies in Panini’s Ashtadhyayi prove that even before Kautilya this institution had been well established as an important branch of administration. Kautilya only collected and collated this scattered knowledge. Hence it would be wrong to consider Kautilya as the father of espionage. Indeed, this art is not the innovation of any one person or age, but a result of collective efforts of many ages and people. Kautilya in his Arthashastra threaded the scattered pearls of this wisdom and gave a refined and systematic form to the various streams of knowledge on this subject coming down from many centuries before. Sufficient confirmatory evidence of this is found in later centuries and in the puranas, Bhas, Kalidas, Magha, Banbhatta and the Sangam literature of the south. 

Kautilya was highly successful in his endeavour. The keen insight, the problem assessing capacity and an eye for the minutest detail as reflected in the Arthashastra are amazing. Its practical utility is unsurpassable. Kautilya’s prescriptions on moulding the popular mood in one’s favour, or for creating divisions among adversary groups push the ancestry of modern espionage practices to more than two thousand years back. The directive principles on VIP security which Kautilya has given are so successful in their totality that even today we have not been able to make any substantial improvement upon it. 

It is, therefore, a matter of pain that we shy away from correctly evaluating the great contribution of Kautilya in this field. Western historians consider a 4th century BC Chinese general, military strategist, and philosopher, Sun Tzu as the first scholar to make an organized and scientific study of the espionage system. Richard Deacon, in his book “A History of the Chinese Secret Service”, although unable to authoritatively say as to who gave birth to formal espionage and when, still believes that it is Sun Tzu who is the first researcher and analyst to present the whole system in a planned form in his ‘Ping Ta’ (Art of Warfare). David Wise and Ross Thomas Bender too in their work “The Espionage Establishment” hold that ‘Ping Ta’ is the oldest work on the art of warfare and espionage. Possibly this writer duo and other western scholars were not aware of the details of the espionage available in the ancient Indian literature. 

There are clear references in the Rigveda to utilization of omnipresent agents or spashas by Indra and Varun, or for tracking of the crime doers by sarmas. Although there is not much difference between the times of Kautilya and Sun Tzu, there is substantial difference between their descriptions or analyses of the espionage system. The meagre information of Sun Tzu pales before the well organized theories, rules and analysis of the great statecraft thinker Kautilya. What the latter has written about the statecraft, diplomacy, warfare and espionage is not only comprehensive but also an all time masterpiece. There is absolutely no aspect – big or small – about espionage or war which has escaped the penetrating eyes of this great statesman and strategist. Whatever principles and manuals are prevalent today are but revised and refined variants of Kautliya’s work. Nowadays, highly sophisticated electronic tools are also being used for this purpose, but in the bygone days all information gathering was done only on the basis of one’s intellect and shrewdness. 

In its original concept, the espionage system is promoter of peace, order and progress, and is harmless. It has no provision for victimizing or punishing any innocent or simple person. In ancient India, this institution was built not with a view to helping the state tyranny or promoting the personal interests of the ruling class; its employment was to maintain ethical and religious order. Religion in those days had no communal overtone. It was purely a neutral code of conduct and its purpose was nothing else than public welfare. This is the fundamental difference between the viewpoints of Ping Ta and Arthashastra. In Kautilya’s state system the ultimate aim behind strengthening king’s authority and maintaining nation’s integrity was welfare of the citizens. But the principles propounded by Sun Tzu have no such underlying higher ideals. It is the hallmark of Indian thought system that it envisages any public institution as always existing for public interest. The Indian espionage system is its best example. The equivalent methods and systems in other countries clearly lack such thinking and ideal. Attacks on the Indian Parliament, railway stations, crowded markets and scores of such incidents should be seen in this context. They all reflect the destructive thought process of foreign espionage system. There are so many intelligence agencies in the world today who right from their birth are involved in destruction and killing. This is all totally contrary to the original concept of this art which is only protection and development. The essence of this art was to know in advance the secrets of an adversary’s progress and foil their cunning moves in respect of one’s own progress path. But today this art has gone completely astray from its core purpose. There could not be greater insult of this art. When acharyas like Manu, Shukra, Yagyavalkya, Kamandak, Somdev, Kautilya, Medhatithi, and other Vedic seers had devised this art and placed it before the world they would have never thought that in future their gift would be misused in planning and scheming for large scale destruction and violence. How tragic that an institution which could have been an aid to society’s progress has fallen to playing such an evil role day and night. 

No art is by itself good or bad. It is upon the practitioner to convert poison into nectar or vice versa. It completely depends on his thinking and conduct. Wherever there is demonism, it will produce anarchy and disorder. On the other hand, divinity finds good even in evil. When guru Dronacharya was testing Duryodhan and asked the latter to bring a good man, Duryodhan could find none in spite of his best efforts; all looked bad to him. But when Yudhisthir was asked to bring a bad man, he saw only good men all around. He kept wandering but could find no bad person; all appeared good to him. This anecdote highlights the difference between two contrasting mentalities and viewpoints, and shows that it is a person’s mental makeup that is responsible for judging anything, person or system bad or good. The art of espionage today is getting defamed on account of this very distorted thinking. 

It is a value-neutral institution and its purity should be maintained for man’s progress. Information collected in a hidden manner about a person, society or nation should be used only for one’s own progress and development. If used for hatred, ill will or revenge, only anarchy will reign supreme everywhere.