Chanakya - 1
An average looking guy was walking on the streets of the Pataliputra (today’s Patna
city in India) for routine work. In his hurried walk, he stumbled on a stump of a noxious grass
and injured his foot. Grass was deeply rooted in the earth and it was not easy to uproot it out.
Little upset he sat down right there in the burning sun. He poured a sugar-syrup on the grass
and stood by as if he was waiting for something!! A passing by kid, named Chandragupta,
was watching him curiously, but carefully. All of a sudden, from nowhere, several ants and
other insects came and attracted towards sugar-syrup. They destroyed the grass completely.
Chandragupta curiously asked him, “It was just a grass. Why did you do it?” Brahmin replied
back, “It was poisonous (evil) and fatal. And all evil things should be destroyed completely
eventhough they are small. This is everybody’s duty. I would remove even a king if the king
adopted adharma.” This average looking guy was not merely a common guy, but a very
smart, clever and learned brahmin. His name was Vishnugupta.
Vishnugupta lived in the capital city Pataliputra of an empire Magadha during the
period 350-275 BC. His father, Chanak, was a learned brahmin. Being a teacher himself,
Chanak knew the importance of education. He started teaching his son Vishnugupta in
his early age. He himself was learned, noble and self-esteemed brahmin. He would not
tolerate any injustice or adharmik deeds. Naturally, the corrupt and arrogant Magadha
King Dhanananda did not like him. Chanak’s family was harrassed by the king on some
false reasons. He was put in the prison where he died. Nobody raised a voice against the
injustice caused with Chanak. Vishnuputa was a young boy at this time. He was extremely
sad on his father’s death and injustice happened with him. His life was also in danger. He
left Pataliputra by taking an oath that he would come back and fight against injustice and a
corrupt king Dhanananda.
Vishnugupta went to Takshashila, a world famous University for all kinds of education.
There he studied Vedas and Uapanishadas. He was more interested in economics and politics.
He gained proficiency in it. In politics, his acumen and shrewdness was visible right from
childhood. Just like his father, he was disciplined, bold and fearless. He would debate with
his fellow teachers on various subjects. Due to his intelligence and leadership qualities, he
was dear to all including other students and teachers. After completing studies, he started
teaching in the University. He was called by Acharya. Many kings and other aristocrats were
his students. He not only taught various subjects, but also taught about values, attitude and patriotism to his students to make them good
and responsible citizens.
During that time, Bharat (India) was
divided in various kingdoms. Only handful
of them were big such as Magadha. All others
were small and most of them were engaged
in fighting against each other. Vishnugupta
worried about this situation as it would invite
invaders to attack Bharat. He wanted to change
it. He saw a dream of united Bharat ruled under
one administration and by one king. Eventhough
his profession was teaching, he had detailed
information about various kings in Bharat and
surrounding areas, and happenings in their
kingdoms. He had established a spy-network
and he kept himself uptodate through it.
During that time, a Greek king Alexandar
was ruling in the country Greece in the middleeast. He had an ambition to win the entire world.
He even won all the kingdoms in the middleeast and was ready to attack Bharat.
Alexandar’s plan became clear to Vishnugupta. He also realized that Alexandar and
his troops were brave and armed with arsenal and divided Bharat would not be able stand
against his forces. He left the University to gather and unite all Bharatiya kings to be able to
present a formidable defence to Alexandar. He travelled all the bordering kingdoms warning
about the grave danger of invasion and tried to convince their kings for unity. He even sought
help from king Dhanananda forgetting his personal enmity with him. But he was humiliated
there. Few kings responded to his call though. In the beginning, Alexandar won few small
kingdoms in the bordering areas with the help of self-indulgent Bharatiya king Ambhi who
betrayed his own people and joined him. But Alexandar could not move further because of
strong and dreadful retort from other Bharatiya kings. Finally, he had to return back to his
country. This is how Bharat was saved from the alien Alexandar.
Such an intelligent Vishnugupta was smart enough in turning tables into his favour
irrespective of circumstances. He was also popularly known by Chanakya and Kautilya (based
on his Gotra). He did great things in his life. He threw away corrupt king Dhanananda and
made his pupil Chandragupta a king and established a great and mighty empire Magadha.
Chanakya - 2
As learnt in earlier chapter, Chanakya (Vishnugupta) was a great teacher (shikshak),
statesman, philosopher, thinker and a born patriot. Many great people including aristocrats
and people from royal families were his students. There was no branch of knowledge, which
he had not mastered. There seemed to be nothing, which he did not know. He was, in other
words, a conglomeration of all things that make a genius. Although he was expertise in
many subjects, his favourite subjects were politics and economics (artha-shastra). He was
very much proud and confident about his profession of teaching. He used to say that – the
mother and a shikshak have the ability to bring about the revolution. If they desire, they can change
the future of the current generations. They can play a bigger role in making the character based society
that holds esteem values and principles. If they desire, they can even throw out the powerful kings.
And he proved it by defeating the arrogant king Dhanananda.
Although Chanakya was a teacher, he took lot of interest in politics. He had a strong
spy-netwark and his spies kept him uptodate about what was going on in various kingdoms
around Takshashila. He never budged to the pressure by the ruthless politicians. He was
known for the meticulous planning to minute details including backup plans and it’s perfect
implementation. His calculations never went wrong. His brain was full of information, ideas
and planning. But he would never disclose anything to anyone unless it was necessary.
Nobody could make out what was going on in his mind. Because of his secrative and harsh
nature, he could employ various methods carefully at the right time to destroy his enemies.
He believed that everyone (kings) had their own weaknesses and they can be defeated by
one way or another. Being known as a masterful political strategist, he discovered kootyuddha (Guerilla Warfare).
Chanakya envisioned Bharat (India) as a united nation ruled under one administration.
He knew that only united Bharat could protect herself and her culture from foreign invasions.
His favourite student (pupil) was a brilliant and bright boy named Chandragupta. Since
childhood Chandragupta was with him. For Chandragupta, he was not only a teacher but
also a guardian. He carved Chandragupta’s personality. A young boy Chandragupta turned
into a patriot, brave and fearless warrior. Chanakya is not complete without Chandragupta
and Chandragupta is not complete without Chanakya. Chandragupta was trustworthy. He
would not even think about leaving or betraying or doing any harm to his guru Chanakya.
Chanakya utilized him very well to fulfill his dream of uniting Bharat. In those days, Magadha was the biggest empire in Bharat which was ruled by arrogant
and ruthless king Dhanananda. As learnt in earlier chapter, Chanakya’s father was tortured
by the king and he himself was humiliated several times. Although he really didn’t care
about his personal enmity, he had taken an oath that he would teach Dhanananda a lesson
for his arrogance and bad administration. He also felt that once the biggest empire Magadha
comes under his control, he would easily bring the entire Bharat under one rule. At last,
with excellent planning and Chandragupta’s bravery, king Dhanananda was thrown out
of the throne and killed later. After that, Chandraputa became a king of the mighty empire
Magadha. Chandraputa became very popular because of his excellent administration and
selfless love towards people of his kingdom.
After becoming Chandragupta a king of Maghadha, many small provinces and
kingdoms happily agreed his leadership and joined him; thus already big Magadha kingdom
grew further. Those who did not join technically, became friends of the Magadha because they
were already influenced by Chanakya. Thus Chanakya fulfilled his dream of uniting Bharat.
Chandragupta ruled Magadha for many years. Chanakya stayed with him in Magadha and
became his prime-minister.
Chanakya continued teaching also. He also wrote many books on political ethics,
nitishastra (thesis on the ideal way of life), and economics (kautiliya artha-shastra). His
books are translated into many other languages including English, French and German. His
literature was unique because of its rational approach and an unabashed advocacy of real
politics. it shows his in depth study of the Bharatiya way of life. In his literature, he has
touched many topics including the duties of king at length such as - how a king should keep
an eye on the things that are going on in his kingdom, how to make sure that his associates
and ministers are honest to him, what good governance means, how to make people give
taxes without feeling any burden, how to keep vigil on borders, how a king should make
sure about his people’s character, how to make use of spies and so on…. He was already
impressed by the big and famous University Takshashila and he felt necessary to have similar
University in Magadha also. So he established another big University at Nalanda city. Later,
like Takshashila, Nalanda also became a world famous University.
Such an intelligent and visionary Chanakya lived selfless and aesthetic life. His life
was mysterious but blot-free. Just like lord Krishna, he would give up values and morals
and do anything to uphold the Dharma. He had powers to turn over the kingdoms but
he never thought of becoming a king. He would make impossible things possible. Indeed,
Chanakya was an excellent personality. His life and teachings will continue to guide entire
Hindu society.
An average looking guy was walking on the streets of the Pataliputra (today’s Patna
city in India) for routine work. In his hurried walk, he stumbled on a stump of a noxious grass
and injured his foot. Grass was deeply rooted in the earth and it was not easy to uproot it out.
Little upset he sat down right there in the burning sun. He poured a sugar-syrup on the grass
and stood by as if he was waiting for something!! A passing by kid, named Chandragupta,
was watching him curiously, but carefully. All of a sudden, from nowhere, several ants and
other insects came and attracted towards sugar-syrup. They destroyed the grass completely.
Chandragupta curiously asked him, “It was just a grass. Why did you do it?” Brahmin replied
back, “It was poisonous (evil) and fatal. And all evil things should be destroyed completely
eventhough they are small. This is everybody’s duty. I would remove even a king if the king
adopted adharma.” This average looking guy was not merely a common guy, but a very
smart, clever and learned brahmin. His name was Vishnugupta.
Vishnugupta lived in the capital city Pataliputra of an empire Magadha during the
period 350-275 BC. His father, Chanak, was a learned brahmin. Being a teacher himself,
Chanak knew the importance of education. He started teaching his son Vishnugupta in
his early age. He himself was learned, noble and self-esteemed brahmin. He would not
tolerate any injustice or adharmik deeds. Naturally, the corrupt and arrogant Magadha
King Dhanananda did not like him. Chanak’s family was harrassed by the king on some
false reasons. He was put in the prison where he died. Nobody raised a voice against the
injustice caused with Chanak. Vishnuputa was a young boy at this time. He was extremely
sad on his father’s death and injustice happened with him. His life was also in danger. He
left Pataliputra by taking an oath that he would come back and fight against injustice and a
corrupt king Dhanananda.
Vishnugupta went to Takshashila, a world famous University for all kinds of education.
There he studied Vedas and Uapanishadas. He was more interested in economics and politics.
He gained proficiency in it. In politics, his acumen and shrewdness was visible right from
childhood. Just like his father, he was disciplined, bold and fearless. He would debate with
his fellow teachers on various subjects. Due to his intelligence and leadership qualities, he
was dear to all including other students and teachers. After completing studies, he started
teaching in the University. He was called by Acharya. Many kings and other aristocrats were
his students. He not only taught various subjects, but also taught about values, attitude and patriotism to his students to make them good
and responsible citizens.During that time, Bharat (India) was
divided in various kingdoms. Only handful
of them were big such as Magadha. All others
were small and most of them were engaged
in fighting against each other. Vishnugupta
worried about this situation as it would invite
invaders to attack Bharat. He wanted to change
it. He saw a dream of united Bharat ruled under
one administration and by one king. Eventhough
his profession was teaching, he had detailed
information about various kings in Bharat and
surrounding areas, and happenings in their
kingdoms. He had established a spy-network
and he kept himself uptodate through it.
During that time, a Greek king Alexandar
was ruling in the country Greece in the middleeast. He had an ambition to win the entire world.
He even won all the kingdoms in the middleeast and was ready to attack Bharat.
Alexandar’s plan became clear to Vishnugupta. He also realized that Alexandar and
his troops were brave and armed with arsenal and divided Bharat would not be able stand
against his forces. He left the University to gather and unite all Bharatiya kings to be able to
present a formidable defence to Alexandar. He travelled all the bordering kingdoms warning
about the grave danger of invasion and tried to convince their kings for unity. He even sought
help from king Dhanananda forgetting his personal enmity with him. But he was humiliated
there. Few kings responded to his call though. In the beginning, Alexandar won few small
kingdoms in the bordering areas with the help of self-indulgent Bharatiya king Ambhi who
betrayed his own people and joined him. But Alexandar could not move further because of
strong and dreadful retort from other Bharatiya kings. Finally, he had to return back to his
country. This is how Bharat was saved from the alien Alexandar.
Such an intelligent Vishnugupta was smart enough in turning tables into his favour
irrespective of circumstances. He was also popularly known by Chanakya and Kautilya (based
on his Gotra). He did great things in his life. He threw away corrupt king Dhanananda and
made his pupil Chandragupta a king and established a great and mighty empire Magadha.
Chanakya - 2
As learnt in earlier chapter, Chanakya (Vishnugupta) was a great teacher (shikshak),
statesman, philosopher, thinker and a born patriot. Many great people including aristocrats
and people from royal families were his students. There was no branch of knowledge, which
he had not mastered. There seemed to be nothing, which he did not know. He was, in other
words, a conglomeration of all things that make a genius. Although he was expertise in
many subjects, his favourite subjects were politics and economics (artha-shastra). He was
very much proud and confident about his profession of teaching. He used to say that – the
mother and a shikshak have the ability to bring about the revolution. If they desire, they can change
the future of the current generations. They can play a bigger role in making the character based society
that holds esteem values and principles. If they desire, they can even throw out the powerful kings.
And he proved it by defeating the arrogant king Dhanananda.
Although Chanakya was a teacher, he took lot of interest in politics. He had a strong
spy-netwark and his spies kept him uptodate about what was going on in various kingdoms
around Takshashila. He never budged to the pressure by the ruthless politicians. He was
known for the meticulous planning to minute details including backup plans and it’s perfect
implementation. His calculations never went wrong. His brain was full of information, ideas
and planning. But he would never disclose anything to anyone unless it was necessary.
Nobody could make out what was going on in his mind. Because of his secrative and harsh
nature, he could employ various methods carefully at the right time to destroy his enemies.
He believed that everyone (kings) had their own weaknesses and they can be defeated by
one way or another. Being known as a masterful political strategist, he discovered kootyuddha (Guerilla Warfare).
Chanakya envisioned Bharat (India) as a united nation ruled under one administration.
He knew that only united Bharat could protect herself and her culture from foreign invasions.
His favourite student (pupil) was a brilliant and bright boy named Chandragupta. Since
childhood Chandragupta was with him. For Chandragupta, he was not only a teacher but
also a guardian. He carved Chandragupta’s personality. A young boy Chandragupta turned
into a patriot, brave and fearless warrior. Chanakya is not complete without Chandragupta
and Chandragupta is not complete without Chanakya. Chandragupta was trustworthy. He
would not even think about leaving or betraying or doing any harm to his guru Chanakya.
Chanakya utilized him very well to fulfill his dream of uniting Bharat. In those days, Magadha was the biggest empire in Bharat which was ruled by arrogant
and ruthless king Dhanananda. As learnt in earlier chapter, Chanakya’s father was tortured
by the king and he himself was humiliated several times. Although he really didn’t care
about his personal enmity, he had taken an oath that he would teach Dhanananda a lesson
for his arrogance and bad administration. He also felt that once the biggest empire Magadha
comes under his control, he would easily bring the entire Bharat under one rule. At last,
with excellent planning and Chandragupta’s bravery, king Dhanananda was thrown out
of the throne and killed later. After that, Chandraputa became a king of the mighty empire
Magadha. Chandraputa became very popular because of his excellent administration and
selfless love towards people of his kingdom.
After becoming Chandragupta a king of Maghadha, many small provinces and
kingdoms happily agreed his leadership and joined him; thus already big Magadha kingdom
grew further. Those who did not join technically, became friends of the Magadha because they
were already influenced by Chanakya. Thus Chanakya fulfilled his dream of uniting Bharat.
Chandragupta ruled Magadha for many years. Chanakya stayed with him in Magadha and
became his prime-minister.
Chanakya continued teaching also. He also wrote many books on political ethics,
nitishastra (thesis on the ideal way of life), and economics (kautiliya artha-shastra). His
books are translated into many other languages including English, French and German. His
literature was unique because of its rational approach and an unabashed advocacy of real
politics. it shows his in depth study of the Bharatiya way of life. In his literature, he has
touched many topics including the duties of king at length such as - how a king should keep
an eye on the things that are going on in his kingdom, how to make sure that his associates
and ministers are honest to him, what good governance means, how to make people give
taxes without feeling any burden, how to keep vigil on borders, how a king should make
sure about his people’s character, how to make use of spies and so on…. He was already
impressed by the big and famous University Takshashila and he felt necessary to have similar
University in Magadha also. So he established another big University at Nalanda city. Later,
like Takshashila, Nalanda also became a world famous University.
Such an intelligent and visionary Chanakya lived selfless and aesthetic life. His life
was mysterious but blot-free. Just like lord Krishna, he would give up values and morals
and do anything to uphold the Dharma. He had powers to turn over the kingdoms but
he never thought of becoming a king. He would make impossible things possible. Indeed,
Chanakya was an excellent personality. His life and teachings will continue to guide entire
Hindu society.
No comments:
Post a Comment