In plain words
Dharma eva sadā mūlam, Dharma eva sadā guṇam. Dharma alone is the foundation of everything. There is no virtue higher than Dharma. This Dharma exists in four forms: the Dharma of the individual, the Dharma of the householder, the Dharma of society and the Dharma of the state. All of these lean on one another and grow through mutual affection. All of these are bound inseparably, each the support of the other. If the individual's Dharma itself is not right, the householder's Dharma perishes. If the householder's Dharma perishes, the Dharma of society itself declines. If the Dharma of society declines, the state falls into ruin. So the whole welfare of the state rests on the individual's Dharma itself. It held Dharma, Artha and Kāma to be the puruṣārthas for human beings, and has believed these three alone to be man's chief principles. In any country, in any age, in any circumstances, these three are man's chief principles. The one who brought forth these Dharma-śāstras, nurtured them and spread them abroad was Manu. That is why Manu, as the chief architect of the human state, has stood as a father to it. Manu alone is the foundation of this Dharma-śāstra.
The second is the Artha-śāstra. How should one use wealth? How should one earn it? How should one enjoy it, how spread it abroad? The one who inquired well into this matter was a certain person. He was Cāṇakya. Another name of his is Kauṭilya. Yet another name of his is Viṣṇugupta. Cāṇakya, Kauṭilya, Viṣṇugupta: all three are his names. Viṣṇugupta is the name he was given. Kauṭilya means one born in the Kauṭilya gotra, so Kauṭilya is another name. Not only that: because he was crooked of mind, the name Kauṭilya came to him. As for Cāṇakya, the village he was born in was called Cāṇukya village. Since he came forth from the village called Cāṇukya, he is Cāṇakya, after the name of that village. In olden days each person, honouring his village and in memory of it, would take its name. You know Gokak, who was once Vice Chancellor. The name Gokak has no meaning at all. That is the name of the village he was born in. He took the name of his village, Gokak. In Andhra Pradesh there is a scholar, Nārāyaṇācāryulu. He was born in Puttaparthi, so his name is Puttaparthi. In just the same way this Cāṇakya was born in the town of Cāṇukya, so they gave him the name of that village.