V.K. Subramanian - Maxims Of Chanakya

(Chanakya: His Life, Times and Work)

Chanakya, also known as Kautilya and Vishnugupta, was the famous Indian Machiavelli who was responsible for the overthrow of the last ruler of the Nanda Dynasty and the enthronement of Chandragupta Maurya. Brahmin by caste, he roughly lived during the period 350-275 B.C.

There is an interesting story about Chanakya's first encounter with Chandragupta, which ultimately ended in their collaboration and capture of power.

One day when Chandragupta who had been dismissed from Nanda's army was walking through the forest he saw a Brahmin pouring sugar syrup on the roots of Kusa grass. Rendered curious, Chandragupta asked Chanakya the rationale of his action. Chanakya replied: This Kusa grass hurt my leg. I hence intend to destroy it. By pouring sugar syrup, 1 am rendering the root of the grass sweet. As a result, thousands of ants will be attracted to it. These ants will nibble at and destroy the root and the grass will die.

Even as he spoke, the ants staitcd collecting and soon there was an army of ants around the root of the Kusa grass which had hurt Chanakya. Chandragupta bowed his head before the sagacity and foresight of Chanakya and pleaded for his help and advice in becoming a Ruler. Chanakya, who already bore a grudge against Nanda, readily agreed.

Chanakya helped Chandragupta in raising a large army and defeating Nanda. After making him the Emperor of India, Chanakya functioned as his Counsellor and advised him in all matters of the State.

With the able advice of Chanakya, Chandragupta Maurya ruled for twenty-four years.

Biographical details available about Chanakya are scanty. We have mainly to rely on tradition, and the Buddhist and Jain texts of later periods.

Chanakya's place of birth is a matter of controversy. The Mahavamsa Tika, a Ceylonese Buddhist work mentions Taxila as his birth place, while Hemachandra, the Jain writer in his Abhidhanachintamani says that Chanakya, son of Chanaka, was a Dramila, that is, an inhabitant of South India.

There is another version that the name Chanakya is derived from the name of his native land (some place called Chanaka in the Punjab) as per a statement in the Jayamangala commentary on the Nitisara,

A place called Gollavishaya has also been mentioned as the birth place of Chanakya in the Parisishtaparvan.

Kerala has also staked a claim as the homeland of Chanakya on the basis that his tuft was that of a Nambudiri Brahmin.

Since Alexander's campaigns were predominantly in the Punjab and Plutarch has gone on record that Alexander had met Chandragupta as a youth during his campaigns, it would be safer to accept the version that Takshasila (Taxila) in the Punjab was the native city of Chanakya, where he and Chandragupta spent several years together.

Though the story about the encounter between Chanakya and Chandragupta mentioned at the beginning of this introduction is the popular one, according to Buddhist texts and traditions, accepted by historians, the version is that Chanakya found Chandragupta in a village as the adopted son of a cowherd from whom he bought the boy by paying on the spot 1,000 Karsapanas, seeing in him the sure promise of future greatness. Chanakya is supposed to have taken the young Chandragupta with him to his native city of Takshasila (Taxila), then the most renowned seat of learning in India and had him educated there for a period of seven or eight years in the Humanities and the Practical Arts and Crafts of the time, including the Military Arts.