According to legend, Chanakya was the chief minister of Chandragupta Maurya (r. 321–297 B.C.E. ), the founder of the Maurya dynasty.
Chanakya became known for his expertise in statecraft as the king's counsel and is said to have played a key role in the establishment of the dynasty.
Chanakya is also known as the
author of the Arthashastra, a famous Indian book on the tactics and mechanics
of brutally effective central administration, which he wrote under the name
Kautilya.
History Of Chanakya.
Chanakya (about 350-275 BCE), also known as Kautilya and Vishnugupta, was the prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya (r. 321-c.297 BCE), the founder of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE).
He is well known for writing the political book Arthashastra, which he composed as a guide for young Chandragupta on how to govern efficiently.
His life is solely known via mythology from numerous traditions; no historical papers about him or his role in the creation of the Mauryan Empire have survived.
According to legend, he was an adviser to Dhanananda (also known as Dhana Nanda, r. 329-322/321 BCE), the final monarch of the Nanda Dynasty (c.
5th century -322 BCE), who controlled the Kingdom of Magadha.
According to one account, he was a Vedic scholar from Taxila University who went to the court of Dhanananda and was humiliated during an alms-giving ritual, after which he dedicated himself to deposing the monarch.
He originally tried to engage the king's son, Pabbata, in his cause, and is also claimed to have sought others before settling on Pabbata and Chandragupta, a young man who was either a lower member of the noble line or a commoner.
Chandragupta proved to be the more resourceful of the two youngsters, and Chanakya concentrated his energies on preparing the future monarch for the next seven to nine years.
Chandragupta deposed Dhanananda and took leadership of Magadha after completing his training.
Chanakya used the Arthashastra as a teaching manual to change Chandragupta from a commoner to an emperor.
The Arthashastra's precepts not only allowed Chandragupta to gain power, but also to keep it, passing it down to his son Bindusara (r. 297-c.273 BCE) and then to his grandson Ashoka the Great (r. 268-232 BCE), whose initial success can also be attributed to the Arthashastra until he became disillusioned by war and converted to Buddhism.
The philosophical school of Charvaka (about 600 BCE) influenced the Arthashastra, which rejected supernatural explanations in favor of a fully materialistic worldview.
Without Charvaka as a basis, the Arthashastra's practical, hands-on character would have been impossible to evolve.
The Arthashastra continued to have a significant impact following Ashoka's reign, but subsequently vanished and was thought to be lost until it was rediscovered in 1905 CE by Sanskrit scholar Rudrapatna Shamasastry (l. 1868-1944 CE).
Shamasastry first published the book in 1909 CE, then translated it into English and republished it in 1915 CE, bringing it to a wider audience.
Since then, the work has been regarded as one of the greatest works of political science ever written, frequently being compared to Niccol Machiavelli's (1469-1527 CE) treatise on how a Renaissance prince should conduct himself, which became as influential in European political science as the Arthashastra had been in India over 1500 years earlier.
The Prince's fundamental message – that a genuine leader is one who recognizes what has to be done and can accomplish it regardless of so-called values – is also reflected in the Arthashastra.
As a textbook on founding and sustaining a powerful state, it has been likened to Plato's Republic and Sun Tzu's The Art of War.
Early Life and Rebellion.
There are no historical writings on Chanakya's life and career that are widely accepted.
In fact, several historians have questioned his authorship of the Arthashastra.
Legends about Chanakya's life, his participation in Chandragupta's ascent, and the composition of the Arthashastra have been recognized by historian Thomas R.
Trautmann as:
- The Mahavamsa is the text of the Buddhist tradition.
- The text of the Parishistaparvan is part of the Jain tradition.
- The Kathasaritsagara, or Kashmiri Tradition, is the text of the Kathasaritsagara.
- Vishakhadatta's rendition — Mudrarakshasa, his play
The Buddhist tradition is the oldest of them, although succeeding works expand on it by adding or omitting certain features.
The main myth depicts Chanakya as a Brahmin scholar from Taxila's university who came to Dhanananda's court for an alms-giving ritual, according to Buddhist tradition.
Chanakya possessed "canine teeth" in every version of his narrative, which folk belief took as a symbol of kingship.
His mother lamented the fact that he was destined to reign and that he would forget about her once he became king when he was a young man.
To assuage her anxieties, he fractured his teeth and was labeled as deformed as a result.
He also seems to have been lame and unattractive in general.
He arrived at the event and was waiting with the others when Dhanananda came in and attacked him, pointing out his appearance and demanded that he be removed from the audience.
Chanakya cursed the king, who ordered his imprisonment, and then fled to the nearby forest, plotting his vengeance.
He is supposed to have discovered a way to increase riches by turning one coin into eight.
He used this secret process in the woods to make the gold coins he needed for an army to remove Dhanananda; what he lacked, however, was a man he could shape into a leader to succeed Dhanananda.
Chanakya And The Monarch Chandragupta.
His initial option seems to have been Dhanananda's son Pabbata, but the youngster may have been only one of several he considered, followed by Chandragupta, a young man.
Chandragupta was a member of the Nanda family, although not of the royal line, according to certain accounts.
In other stories, he was a commoner whose family had formerly been wealthy but was now peacock farmers.
After being ridiculed and driven out, Chanakya seeks out a ten-year-old orphan farmhand named Chandragupta, and nine years later transforms him into the first emperor of the region's biggest empire.
The phrase "reality is stranger than fiction" is not without merit.
It doesn't matter whether story is correct since Chanakya turns the young guy into a mighty monarch in both.
But, before he could do that, he needed to be certain about the characteristics of the lads whose lives he was about to alter.
He handed Pabbata and Chandragupta each an amulet on a woolen thread that they were to wear snugly around their necks after he had whittled his selections down to two.
Chanakya urged Pabbata to go to Chandragupta's chamber and remove the amulet without breaking the thread when Chandragupta was asleep.
Pabbata returned empty-handed, acknowledging his failure.
Chanakya then asked Chandragupta to do the same on another day while Pabbata was asleep.
Pabbata's head was severed by Chandragupta, who returned to his lord with the amulet.
Chanakya had identified his future king in Chandragupta, who had demonstrated himself competent of governing by understanding what needed to be done and being able to execute it in the most extreme and direct manner possible.
Political Environment Of The Time, And Chanakya's Rise to Power.
The area was made up of small kingdoms and tribes at the time, which were governed by the Nanda Empire of the Kingdom of Magadha under Dhanananda, but had been destabilized by Alexander the Great's invasion in 326 BCE.
Following the Battle of the Hydaspes River, Alexander is said to have persuaded King Porus of Paurava (r. c. 326-315 BCE) that he could easily overthrow the Nanda Empire since Dhanananda was so unpopular with the people that they would back his war.
Alexander's warriors recognized Dhanananda as Xandrames or Agrammes, according to the later Roman historian Curtius (l. 1st century CE), a great ruler who could easily deploy 200,000 infantry and 20,00 cavalry, as well as chariot units and war elephants.
Alexander's troops had already undergone severe difficulties as a result of their general's journey to India, and they hesitated to face an army that was thought to be unbeatable.
They threatened mutiny and compelled Alexander to return to Mesopotamia after abandoning his mission.
Chandragupta met Alexander at this time and asked permission to join in his army, according to tradition.
The encounter did not go well, according to Plutarch (l. c. 46-120 CE), and Chandragupta left Alexander's army in fear of his life.
Although this is plausible, it is more probable that Chandragupta volunteered his services to Dhanananda with Chanakya's support and maybe served in his army to obtain military experience.
Chanakya is reported to have spent seven to nine years teaching Chandragupta, including some sort of military duty, before sending his protégé to the north-west area of India, which Alexander's troops had destabilized before departing.
Chandragupta quickly crushed the petty kingdoms and tribes that had previously been vanquished by Alexander, establishing a foundation from which to attack Magadha.
Through intrigue, espionage, and political manipulation, Chanakya supported in the preparation for the assault by weakening the opponent while collecting knowledge on his capabilities.
After failing in his initial attempt, Chandragupta ousted and assassinated Dhanananda in 321 BCE, assuming power.
Chanakya's Treatise: Charvaka And the Arthashastra.
Chanakya became Chandragupta's prime minister when he was crowned king.
He may have written the Arthashastra soon after, although any claim to a definite composition date is questionable.
What is apparent, however, is that the work would not have been possible without the philosophical school of Charvaka, which created the intellectual environment that permitted it to happen.
Charvaka eschewed religious explanations of life in favor of materialism, articulating its philosophy in six tenets:
The only way to establish and accept any reality is by direct awareness.What the senses cannot see and comprehend does not exist.The visible components of air, earth, fire, and water are all that exists.The only evil in life is suffering; pleasure is the ultimate good.The fundamental aim of human life is to seek pleasure while avoiding misery.Religion is a creation of the powerful and smart to exploit the weak.
The originator is considered to have been a reformer called Brhaspati (about 600 BCE), who opposed to the priestly class's dominance and control over the populace, particularly the lower classes.
He is supposed to have written the Brhaspati Sutra, a work on his philosophy that has long been lost, and everything that is known about it comes from subsequent Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist literature that contradict Brhaspati's assertions.
The Hindu theological books known as the Vedas, which were thought by the orthodox to be the utterances of Brahman, the creator of the cosmos and the Universe itself, were utterly rejected by Charvaka.
Astika ("there exists") refers to religious and philosophical traditions that embrace the Vedas, whereas nastika ("there does not exist") refers to those who reject the Vedic worldview.
Both Jainism and Buddhism are nastika schools of thought, but Charvaka, who was also nastika, carried the notion a step further by rejecting any supernatural presence or authority.
Charvaka presented the opportunity of perceiving the world in a non-religious, purely pragmatic perspective, despite the fact that it never became a generally acknowledged school of thought.
Works like the Arthashastra, which combines the astika and nastika schools of thought, may be composed under this new worldview.
P. Ram Manohar, a scholar, has this to say:
Due to the dominance of the Astika school of thought in India, a knowledge system emerged that was primarily spiritual in nature, albeit it was complemented with a scientific approach to comprehending the mundane world.
Buddhism and Jainism were well-codified and evolved into structured institutions among the Nastika schools.
It's worth noting that the Charvaka school...never established itself as a dominating school of thought...
However, the Charvaka school of thinking had a significant impact and contributed to achieving a balance between spiritual and material worldviews.
The Charvaka school made sure that the materialistic viewpoint had a rightful position in the reality painting.
The Arthashastra's emphasis on the here-and-now, and how a monarch must sometimes make what seem to be tough decisions in order to govern successfully, is informed by materialism.
The principles explored in the Arthashastra were most likely established via a merging of astika and nastika philosophy prior to Chandragupta's rule, as they seem to have been crucial to his success.
Chanakya's commandments are all quite practical, while also admitting the presence of a higher force who approves of the king's required activities as his dharma (duty) to be carried out in line with his karma (action).
Patel divides the Arthashastra into seven major areas, all of which are concerned with a king's ability and willingness to succeed in foreign and domestic policy:
1. Strategy.
- Chanakya is concerned with maintaining a stable government and maintaining good ties with neighboring governments.
- The book spends a lot of time on political, military, and covert tactics.
2. Subterfuge.
- When traditional or conventional technique fails, Chanakya recommends using "secret methods."
- In the same manner that Chanakya examines fort measures, he also addresses poisons and orchestrated uprisings.
3. Spies.
- This book contains a lot of information regarding spies, from courtiers to wandering lunatics.
- It's crucial to recognize that Chanakya utilizes spies to obtain information.
- There would be other methods to achieve this in an other age; at the time of writing, salting spies around your culture was the only dependable means of understanding what was going on everywhere.
4. Fines and bureaucracy
- A large portion of the original paper goes into great depth on the layout of government buildings and procedures, as well as particular civil and criminal crimes and punishments.
5. Protection.
- A monarch of any type must be aware of threats to their person as well as their position or realm.
6. Verification.
- How do you know who you can put your faith in?
- This is one of the most important issues in governance, and Chanakya spends a lot of effort on it.
7. Attack.
- How does one go about attacking an adversary in such a way that long-term difficulties are avoided?
- How can you fight a stronger opponent or figure out what their true intentions are? (8-9)
These and many more subjects are discussed in the 15 volumes that make up the Arthashastra treatise.
Chanakya used these teachings to steer Chandragupta's reign, resulting in one of the world's largest and most powerful empires.
A Summary Of Chanakya's Life.
Chanakya was the king's personal advisor until Chandragupta converted to Jainism and abdicated in favor of his son Bindusara.
The monarch subsequently retreated to the jungle to become a religious hermit, according to folklore, and perished from rigorous fasting.
After ensuring Bindusara's rule was secure, Chanakya is believed to have retreated to the jungle with the Arthashastra as a guide; after leaving the Maurya court, according to all versions of his mythology, nothing more is known of him.
The morality – or lack thereof – of Chanakya's work has provoked as much debate as Machiavelli's The Prince.
Chanakya may be seen as either a soulless materialist who utilizes whatever is to his advantage to accomplish his goals, or as an educated pragmatism who knows that in order to attain noble goals, one must occasionally participate in repugnant behaviors.
It cannot be disputed that the Arthashastra's principles permitted the formation and preservation of the Mauryan Empire, which surpassed all preceding empires in the area, and this must be seen as a good, as Patel points out:
In Indian history, the Mauryan empire's impact cannot be overestimated.
It was the world's biggest empire and the birthplace of Buddhism.
It established a solid governmental system that, although changing hands over time, often resulted in a lineage of thinking and growth.
Whether seen as a hero or a monster, Chanakya's influence and his Arthashastra were crucial in establishing the Mauryan Empire, but the book also calls for ignoring moral issues in favor of pragmatism and expediency.
The Arthashastra's concepts and influence continue to engage students of politics, religion, and philosophy in an examination of this central problem that its concepts and influence present: can a positive result be considered objectively good if it is obtained through negative means?
Although Chanakya would undoubtedly answer affirmatively, scholars who study his work appear to be prone to stipulating, qualifying, or even stopping short of fully agreeing with his vision.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.
