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Chanakya

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Acharya
Chanakya
चाणक्य
Chanakya on the cover of R. Shamasastry's 1915 translation of Arthashastra
Bornc. 375 BCE
Chanaka village in South India (according to Jain texts); or Takshashila (according to Buddhist texts)
Diedc. 283 BCE
Pataliputra, Maurya Empire
Occupation(s)Teacher, philosopher, economist, jurist, political advisor, prime minister
Known forHelping Chandragupta Maurya build the Maurya Empire; writing the Arthashastra and Chanakya Niti
RelativesChanak (father)

Chanakya (IAST: Cāṇakya; c. 350-283 BCE) was an adviser and Prime minister to Chandragupta Maurya (c. 340-293 BCE). He played a key role in helping Chandragupta in the establishment of Maurya Empire.[1]

Early Life

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Chanakya was born in a Brahmin family. He learned about politics, astrology, war, and medicine.[2][3] He studied at Takshashila, a famous school in ancient India.[4] He became very smart and later became a teacher. The word Kautilya means "Crookedness" and he also known as Chanakya and Kautilya.[5]

Helping Chandragupta

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When Chanakya saw that India was not united and foreign rulers were coming, he wanted to change that. He met Chandragupta, a brave and smart boy. Chanakya trained him and helped him fight against the Nanda kings.[6][7]

Together, they won and Chandragupta became the first Maurya emperor around 321 BCE. Chanakya became his chief minister and helped him run the kingdom.[8]

Arthashastra

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Chanakya [Kautilya] wrote a book called Arthashastra meaning "science of wealth"[9][10][11] or "Manual of Politics".[12] It is a book about how to run a government, manage money, fight wars, and keep peace.[13] It is one of the oldest books on politics in the world.[14] Mauryan Empire was governed by the system noted in Arthashastra which was similar to Machiavellian system.[15][16]

Media

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  • Television series Chanakya is a fictionalized account of the life and times of Chanakya.
  • A book has been published in English titled 'Chanakya on Management"{18} in which each of the 216 sutras on raja-neeti has been translated and commented upon. Clearly, the entire system of thought propounded by Chanakya is based on following good ethical principles.
  • In his Arthasastra, Chanakya has discussed widely various economic issues. A book written by Ratan Lal Basu & Rajkumar Sen has dealt exhaustively with these economic concepts of Chanakya and their relevance for the modern world.[17]
  • Many eminent Kautilya experts from all over the world had discussed various aspects of Kautilya's thought in an International Conference held in 1902 at Oriental Research Institute, Mysore, India to celebrate the Centenary of discovery of the manuscript of the Arthashastra by R. Shamasastry. Most of the papers presented in the Conference have been compiled in an edited volume by Raj Kumar Sen and Ratan Lal Basu.[18]

References

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  1. ↑ Pramod Chandra (2024). South Asian Arts. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. p. 73. In the 4th century BCE, Kautilya the chief minister of Emperor Chandragupta, referred in his book on the art of government, the Arthashastra, to the low morals of players and advised the municipal authorities not to build houses in the midst of their villages for actors, acrobats, and mummers.
  2. ↑ Michael Shally-Jensen (2015). The Ancient World (2700 B.C.E. - c.500 C.E.). Grey House Publishing. pp. 128–129. Kautilya, who was also called Chanakya or Vishnugupta, was born into a family of Brahmins... his writing displayed an understanding of Greek and Persian texts, and he was well-versed in medicine, astrology, and military strategy.
  3. ↑ Vincent A. Smith (1919). Oxford Student History of India. Oxford University Press. p. 51. His agent in effecting the revolution was Chanakya, also called Kautilya or Vishnugupta, a wily Brahmin, who became his minister.
  4. ↑ Geoffrey Wawro (2011). Historical Atlas: A Comprehensive History of the World. Global Book Publishing. p. 64. One of the individuals shaken by the debacle at Alexander's hands in northwest India was Chanakya, or Kautilya, a most highly regarded scholar at Takshashila University (near Rawalpindi).
  5. ↑ Wendy Doniger, David Biale (2015). The Norton Anthology of World Religions, Volume I. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 710. Author of the Arthashastra, the ancient Indian textbook of political science; a notoriously amoral author, whose nickname, Kautilya actually means "Crookedness." He was also called Chanakya and Vishnugupta, and was said to have been prime minister to the emperor Chandragupta Maurya, in the third century B.C.E.
  6. ↑ D. G. Apte (2019). Universities in Ancient India. Reprint of 1917 Edition. pp. 20–21. ...so also was Chanakya, (known also as Kautilya) the minister of Chandragupta Maurya, who reduced the Nanda dynasty of Magadha to ashes.
  7. ↑ Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, ed. (2003). The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 1353. In c.324/21 BC, with the help of Chanakya sometimes known as Kautilya an experienced brahmana statesman to whom is ascribed a comprehensive book on political economy and statecraft, the Arthashastra, he overthrew the Nanda king of Magadha.
  8. ↑ "Mauryan Empire". education.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Richard Christie and Florence L. Geis (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. Academic Press. p. 7. Perhaps the most esoteric work was the Arthasastra of Kautilya (Chanakya, believed to be prime minister of Chandragupta in southern India, circa 300 B.C.), translated by Shamasastry (1909).
  10. ↑ Rodney Edvinsson (2023). An Economic Philosophy of Production, Work and Consumption: A Transhistorical Framework. Open Book Publishers. pp. 16–17. Arthashastra, sometimes translated as the "science of wealth", credited to have been written by the Indian philosopher Chanakya around 300 BC, is a treatise on economics, policy and military strategy.
  11. ↑ Paul Lagasse, ed. (2000). The Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press. p. 521. He was advised by Kautilya (also called Chanakya) a very able but unscrupulous Brahman, to whom is attributed the Arthasastra, a guide to statecraft.
  12. ↑ The Cambridge History of India, Volume I. Cambridge University Press. 1922. p. 151. The Arthasastra or 'Manual of Politics' which may possibly be the real work of Chanakya or Kautilya and therefore written about 300 B.C.
  13. ↑ Erik Ringmar (2019). History of International Relations: A Non-European Perspective. Open Book Publishers. pp. 49–50. The Arthashastra is a manual on statecraft allegedly written by Kautilya, also known as Chanakya... Both books describe politics as a ruthless game of power, yet the Arthashastra is by far the more cynical.
  14. ↑ Craig Benjamin, ed. (2015). The Cambridge World History, Volume IV. Cambridge University Press. p. 517. This Vishnugupta is believed to be the same as Kautilya Chanakya, the famed author of the Arthashastra, among the earliest and most brilliant treatises in the world on statecraft and empire building. He is also believed to be the wily but moralistic prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya.
  15. ↑ A. L. Basham, ed. (1975). A Cultural History of India. Oxford University Press. pp. 2, 39. This period (c. 320-185 B.C.) produced the Machiavellian system of statecraft associated with the name of the minister Kautilya, the reputed author of the famous Arthashastra... Kautalya, alternatively known as Kautilya and Chanakya, was the chief minister of Chandragupta Maurya and a work on political economy, the Arthasastra, is attributed to him.
  16. ↑ Veena Das, ed. (2003). The Oxford India Companion to Sociology and Social Anthropology. Oxford University Press. p. 1416. Such departures were made since the sixth century BC... by the radically new, secular pragmatic theory of the state and government contained in the Arthashastra, attributed to Kautilya the mentor and minister of Chandragupta Maurya (с. 321-298 BC), the founder of the Mauryan empire.
  17. ↑ Ratan Lal Basu & Rajkumar Sen: Ancient Indian Economic Thought, Relevance for Today, ISBN 81-316-0125-0, Rawat Publications, New Delhi, 2008
  18. ↑ Raj Kumar Sen & Ratan Lal Basu (eds): Economics in Arthasastra, ISBN 81-7629-819-0, Deep& Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2006

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