Economic Sutra: Ancient Indian Antecedents to Economic Thought examines economic ideas found in ancient Indian literature, particularly the ideas that developed before and after Kautilya's Arthashastra. Satish Y. Deodhar explores how ancient Indian thinkers understood wealth, production, trade, taxation, governance, markets and economic behaviour.

The book aims to challenge the perception that ancient Indian economic thinking was primarily fatalistic or purely religious. It connects historical Indian economic thought with concepts recognizable in modern economics and provides a broader perspective on the economic ideas and practices of ancient India.