Chanakya The Great

All living beings on this planet takes birth. And among the living beings on this earth, it is human beings, also known as homo-sapiens, who is supposed to be deemed special as human beings possess intellect, which separates the humans from the animals.

Man kind is something where, the process of intellectual thoughts is promoted and nurtured. This is why humans are also known as a species who spend time in thinking.

But this thinking process and the capability to think even in human is not possessed by everyone.  Some people acquire knowledge by living in the company of intellectual, some have traits of working hard, and some, despite being hard workers, never ever up move up the echelons of the intellectuals.

And then, there are people who are born intellectuals. It is said that intellectual person can even change the course of the rivers. Rivers, which flows as per the laws of nature. They don't conform to the norms of the society, but  rather make society to think and act as per their visions.

One such person who walked down to this planet was 'Chanakya'. He is best known as the person who perished a powerful dhananda empire, author of a famous treatise 'Arthashashtra' and the prime minister of powerful Chandra Gupta Maurya.

                                               


Son of rishi Canak, Chanakya, also known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta, was born in Pataliputra,Magadh (modern Bihar), and later moved to Taxila, in Gandhar province(now in Pakistan). At a very early age little Chanakya started studying Vedas. The Vedas; considered to be the toughest scriptures to study were completely studied and memorized by Chanakya in his infancy. He was attracted to studies in politics. In politics Chanakya’s acumen and shrewdness was visible right from childhood. He was a student of politics right from child hood. Known as a masterful political strategist, He knew how to put his own people in the opposite camp and spy the enemy without his knowledge before destroying him forever. Chanakya was an ace in turning tables in his favor irrespective of the circumstances. He never budged to pressure tactics by the ruthless politicians. In this way after studying religion and politics, he turned his attention to economics, which remained his lifelong friend. "Nitishastra", a treatise on the ideal way of life shows his in depth study of the Indian way of lifeHe was a professor (acharya) of political science at the Takshashila University and later the Prime Minister of the Emperor Chandragupta Maurya. He is regarded as one of the earliest known political thinkers, economists and king-makers. He was the man to envision the first Indian empire by unification of the then numerous kingdoms in the Indian sub-continent and provide the impetus for fights against the Greek conqueror Alexander.


Chanakya received his education at a famous school in a city well known in those days as Takshashila (corrupted later into 'Taxila'). The teachers at Takshashila were great scholars known all over the world. Students from different parts of Bharat went there for their education. Even kings sent their sons for education there. It is said that a certain teacher there had one hundred and one students and all of them were princes!
Generally a student entered the University of Takshashila at the age of sixteen. The four Vedas, archery, hunting,elephant-lore, and eighteen arts were being taught there.
The faculties there, which taught law, medicine and warfare, were famous not only in Bharat but also abroad.

Such was the center where Chanakya had his education. With this education, his inherent brilliance became like a polished diamond.

After finishing his education, Chanakya decided to return to Pataliputra, his birth place. The city was industrious in producing essential commodities and luxurious goods for the rich. When Chanakya entered the city, it was known for respecting knowledgeable people and scholars. The intellectuals from across the country were warmly invited for the intercourse of new ideas and development of the state. It was virtually the city of fortunes as it recognized the true talent and rewarded richly for the work done by an individual. No wonder Chanakya decided to start his glorious campaign from Patliputra.

Dhanananda, the ruler of Patliputra was unscrupulous and cruel by nature. He was always busy gathering money without thinking about consequences. He was always dissatisfied with the amount of money he had. Collecting taxes exorbitantly, he was a villain in the public eye. There was public outrage on the taxes which were collected on unwanted things. The main aim of collecting taxes was to serve the selfish interests of the king. There were taxes on hides, tax on wood and tax even on stone! The amount of money which Dhanananda had was unimaginable.

When Chanakya arrived at Patliputra, there was a change in the way he ran his kingdom. He gave gifts to the poor and was on the way of becoming lenient in administration. He had formed a trust or committee to administer his gifts and charities. The committee was headed by scholars and influential people of the society. It is said that the president had the powers to make up to ten million gold coins.

Since Chanakya was a great scholar from Taxila, he was included in the committee for charity. Chanakya later on became the president of the ‘Sungha’ (Trust). The Sungha used to help the king in the distribution of the money allotted for charity to the different sections of the society. In the process of delegation of the funds for charity, the president of the trust had to meet the king frequently. When Chanakya met the king for the first time, he was disgusted at the ugly appearance of Chanakya. As time passed he developed contempt for Chanakya. There was no refinement in words and conduct. To increase the fire between Dhanananda and Chanakya, the courtiers dissuaded the king from having a cordial relationship with Chanakya. Chanakya acted like a thorough professional and avoided praising the king. He always spoke bluntly and tersely. The king did not like the way Chanakya behaved with him. The king removed Chanakya from the post of president without any reasons.Infact, stupid king dhananda insulted Chanakya ,a majestic Brahman by pulling his shikha or tuft and and throwing Chanakya out from the palace humiliated and unceremoniously.

True to his Brahmanical upbringing, Chanakya felt outraged on this unjust. Infact, this foolish act by the foolish king made chanakya to take an oath:  'I will not tie my tuft of hair until I uproot the whole Nanda dynasty and establish dharma in magadha. Rulers like you have spoiled Bharat. The tuft of hair which you arrogantly pull now will be like a serpent which comes back to bite you.'

And as we all know, the rest is history. The learned Brahman Chanakya then trained Chandragupta Maurya. He advised Chandragupta in the matters of state affairs, got dhananda and his entire lineage uprooted, and made Chandragupta the king. And as we all know, the Maurya Empire was one of the largest empires of the world in its time. It was also the largest empire ever in the Indian subcontinent. At its greatest extent, the empire stretched to the north along the natural boundaries of the Himalayas, to the east into Assam, to the west into Balochistan (south west Pakistan and south east Iran) and the Hindu Kush mountains of what is now Afghanistan. The Empire was expanded into India's central and southern regions by the emperors Chandragupta andBindusara, but it excluded a small portion of unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga (modern Odisha), until it was conquered by Ashoka. It declined for about 50 years after Ashoka's rule ended, and it dissolved in 185 BCE with the foundation of the Sunga Dynasty in Magadha,whose rein is a different matter of debate, as sunga's imperialism came in response to buddhist patronage given by the kings of post mauryan empire  who took up and converted to buddist faiths.

But Chanakya is not only known as a  prime minister and author of one of the famous treatise Arthashathra, but also for Chanakya neeti. Chanakya Niti/neeti is a collection of aphorisms, said to be selected by Chanakya from the various shastras. It describes how people must behave in their daily life, and when they encounter a particular situation. Some of the neeti which I like the most are:

• Money comes and goes, so is the youth. Life goes and goes the soul, Nothing lasts forever. Only thing that stays firm is your faith.

• The best place to live is where fools are not honoured, grains are stored safely, where husband and wife don’t quarrel. Goddess Laxmi (Goddess of wealth) resides at such locations.

• A hard working person cannot remain poor, a person who continuously remembers God is unlikely to perform a sin, a person with peace cannot quarrel. Similarly, a vigilant person has no fears.

• In case of natural disasters, famine and unstoppable enemy invasion; one should run away and save life. (Save yourself for another day).

• You should be shameless when it comes about learning something, dealing in business, and having food.

• Those who desire only wealth belong to lowest class of people. Who desire wealth and respect are above them. The men who desire honor and respect are superior to all.

• Everyone respects wise men. They are rewarded with honor and money.  A person can attain everything through knowledge.  It is worshiped everywhere.

• If a snake is non-poisonous, then too it must pretend like one with ability to take life.

• A person must walk with his eyes open, must drink clean water, speak words of wisdom, and must perform an action only after thinking about pros & cons.

• A person who leaves his community to join another community is likely to face quick destruction. Same will be the case with king who don’t cares for his subjects.

• A student who continuously thinks about comforts of home (homesick) will not be able to gain knowledge. One with greed cannot be truthful. One who debauch cannot acquire piety.

• One must not be afraid of future, nor shall regret upon past. Wise men concentrate on utilizing the present to frame a brighter future.

• The nature of noble people is quite strange i.e. instead of acting arrogant upon attaining wealth they bow down in humility and act more modestly and respectfully.

• One who plans and prepares himself to face challenges and difficulties is most likely to succeed against them. On the other hand, if a man leaves everything on luck then he will perish for sure.

• Poverty, diseases, conflicts, and other problems in life are nothing, but the fruits from tree of ones own misdeeds.

• A really wise man is an expert in the art of speaking, he talks as per situation, speak the words that add to his fame, and shows anger in accordance to the authority he possesses.

• It is better to die than living a life of humiliation. You die once, but humiliation kills you every moment.

Indeed, Chanakya himself proved that instead of living a life full of disgrace, it is better to die with dignity and honor.

People such as Chanakya take birth for once, but with their works, remain eternal.