Chanakya
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Biography
R C Kotwal,Chanakya’s words of wisdom "Daily Excelsior" 26/6/2016
Chanakya, @ Kautilya @ Vishnu Gupta, was India’s greatest philosopher, teacher, economist, jurist and a royal advisor. He has authored two greatest books thousands of years ago and his book Arthashastra (Economics) is considered as the pioneer of the field of political science and economics in India. He was a professor of political science and economics at the ancient university of Taxila. Chanakya played an important role in making Chandragupta as first Mauryan Emperor at a very young age. Chanakya was born in a Brahmin family. Chanakya birthplace is a matter of debate and there are number of theories in it. One theory says he was from Taxila, another says he was from North India, born in Patlipura ( Bihar) & his father was a scholar also. He was a scholar in Vedas and practicing Snatan Dharma. He was one of the greatest political thinkers in ancient India who is relevant even today.
At the time of Kautilya, India was mostly divided into smaller independent states, with the exception of the Magadha kingdom which was ruled by Nanda Dyansty. Chanakya @ Kautilya’s role in the fall of Magadha Kingdom and rise of Mauryan Dyansty made him the famous political thinker. He single handed made Chandergupta Maurya, a Kshatriya by caste who was relative of Nanda dynasty, the king of Magadha kingdom.
Chanakaya and Chandragupta raised a small army that lacked sufficient military strength to take on Magadha throne directly. Chandragupta and Chanakya entered the capital Patliputra and triggered a civil war using the Chanakya political wisdom and sharpness. In 322 BC Chandergupta and Chanakya, then fought and defeated the generals of Alexander the Great located in Gandhara (Afghanistan).
Chanakya was educated at Takshashila, an ancient centre of learning located in north-western of ancient Bharat (now in Pakistan). He later became teacher at the same university. Chanakya life is connected to two main cities Takshashila and Pataliputra (Patna, Bihar). Two books are attributed to Chanakya, Arthashastra and Chanakya Niti also known as Chanakya Neeti-Shastra . Arthashastra discuss extensively on monetary, fiscal politics, welfare, international relations and war strategies in detail. It also outlines the duties of a Ruler or King. Arthashastra is written by Chanakya, who is regarded as a great thinker and political analyst in India. Arthashastra is a serious manual on statecraft, on how to run a state and precise in its prescriptions the result of practical experience of running a state. It is not just a normative text but a realist description of the art of running a state. It was written in Sanskrit language.
Chanakya Neeti
A man is great by deeds, not by birth.
A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first.
Education is the best friend. A educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth.
Learn from the mistakes of others ——- You cannot live long enough to make them all yourself.
If you want to cast a spell on an intelligent person, then tell him the truth.
Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.
Till the time you don’t decide to run, you are not in the competition.
As soon as the fear approaches near, Attach and destroys it.
There are three Gems upon this earth, Food/ Water and pleasing words – only fools consider pieces of Rocks as Gems.
There is some self interest being every friendship. There is no friendship without interests. This is a bitter truth.
The biggest guru mantra is :- Never share your secrets with anybody, if you cannot keep a secret with you, do not expect others will keep it. It will destroy you.
Once you start working on something, Don’t be afraid of future and don’t abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest.
Before you start source work, Always ask yourself three questions:-
Why am I doing it.
What the results might be.
Will be successful.
Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, then go ahead.
Man never does his duty unless threatened by Danda punishment of the King/ govt.
Lust for eating, sleeping, fear, company of the opposite sex, these are all common in men and animals. Sense of understanding and dharma are the only qualities which make men superior to animals. Hence men sans knowledge are like animals.
If one has a beautiful wife, wealth in home, obedient son full of noble ideas and a grandson also – these pleasures are more than to be found in the kingdom of Indra devta.
In comparison with men, women have double the hunger, four times the bashfulness (shy) – 6 times the valor, and 8 times the sexual desire.
Handsome, young and persons belonging to high family are like fragrance less flowers if they are without education and wisdom.
Purity of speech, mind, of the senses and purity of a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires to rise to the divine platform.
The fragrance of flowers spreads only in one direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all directions.
A man is born alone, dies alone and he experiences the good and bad consequences of his karma alone and he goes alone to hell or supreme abode.
Drop the idea that attachment and love are one thing. They are enemies. It is attachment that destroys all love.
(The author is SP Hqtrs Jammu romeshkotwal3@gmail.com)
Raj Dharm
Radhakrishnan Pillai, Raj Dharma Is Enlightened Governance, Feb 16, 2017: The Times of India
For Chanakya, knowledge was wealth. Knowledge was his greatest weapon, asset, strength and power. He said, “If I have knowledge, I can create many emperors.“ His conviction came from the depth of his spirituality, strong and deep-rooted.
Dharma is the core word that is discussed in Indian scriptures. Making the leader a dharmic raja or rajarishi was Chanakya's highest vision. In his Arthashastra, the word `dharma' appears 150 times. Dharma denotes various concepts and ideas it is morality , ethics, spirituality, duty and responsibility , among others.Chanakya speaks at length on raja dharma, the duties and responsibilities of a king.
Chanakya said, “He should enjoy sensual pleasures without contravening his spiritual good and material well-being; he should not deprive himself of pleasures.“
The common misconception about spirituality is that it is meant for old people, and that you become spiritual only when you have nothing left to do in life.
Another misconception is that spirituality is for the other world, to gain benefits after we die and go to some place called heaven.
In reality, it is the other way around. The really spiritual people are always active and dynamic. They are action-oriented. The spiritual energy in them gives them the strength to do better than the ordinary .
With a foundation of spirituality , even the ordinary will become extraordinary .
Yet another misconception is that spirituality is related to poverty . There are four aspects one should be aware of in life, the purusharthas, as stated in the Vedas: dharma, spiritual good; artha, material well-being; kama, worldly desires and moksha, enlightenment. Chanakya says the first three have to be balanced in our lives, that is, dharma, artha and kama. One should enjoy material success and fulfil all worldly desires.
But this has to be done on the foundations of spirituality. Then, moksha will follow in due course.
There are misconceptions that moksha is something that happens suddenly; that it is something that changes you externally and gives you some sort of halo around your head. Spirituality is a state of aware ness; a state of being with oneself. In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna says an enlightened person is a sthitha prajna. `Sthitha' means established and `prajna' means knowledge and wisdom. A sthitha prajna is one who is established in knowledge and wisdom.
Chanakya wants every person to be wise. But that is a very high state. For beginners and average people, it is advised to balance dharma, artha and kama.If you run a company or an organisation, you should create a lot of artha wealth and money , and fulfil kama, all desires; all based on dharma, spirituality .
There is nothing wrong in being ambitious and creating wealth just make sure that wealth is created in an ethical manner.
Spiritual thinking also means to be in tune with the laws of nature. The law of the universe is all around us. If we can understand the spiritual principles that govern everything around us, we will never fail in anything.
Chanakya also says that you need not be deprived of pleasures. Enjoy life.Otherwise, if you suppress desires, one day , they will erupt like a volcano and destroy everything around you.
Desires can be fulfilled in the right way.We should know our limits maryada. A self-disciplined person can enjoy to the fullest without any harm.
According to Chanakya, the highest form is spiritual thinking, but it need not be to the exclusion of worldly thinking.You need to strike a balance.
