Myth: The Arthashastra is the Indian equivalent of The Prince — a manual on ruthless power. The Arthashastra is far broader than Machiavelli: a third of it is devoted to praja-sukha (people's welfare), administration of taxation, weights and measures, public health, agricultural policy, and judicial procedure. Treating it as a ruthlessness manual is reading 30% of the book. Myth: 'Sama, dana, danda, bheda' is Chanakya's signature foreign-policy doctrine. The four-fold method long predates Chanakya and appears across many Sanskrit political texts; Chanakya systematised it but did not invent it. Myth: Most quotes attributed to Chanakya on WhatsApp are his. The vast majority — including viral aphorisms on women, enemies, and money — are misattributed or invented; many circulate from the much later Chanakya Niti, a different compilation assembled several centuries after Chanakya's death. Fact: The Arthashastra contains detailed instructions on espionage, counter-intelligence, double agents, and disinformation campaigns that are strikingly modern, including the use of 'poison girls' (vishakanya) as intelligence assets — a concept that surprised Western intelligence historians when they first encountered the text. Fact: It is explicit on a ruler's duty to ensure rule of law, including against the king's own officers — a normative principle Machiavelli does not match.