Who was Chanakya ?

Because of this, Kautilya is often compared to Machiavelli. It is fair to mention that Kautilya is not merciless all the time and he also writes about the moral duty of the king: he summarizes the duty of the king by saying

The happiness of the subjects is the happiness of the king; their welfare is his. His own pleasure is not his good but the pleasure of his subjects is his good”. Some scholars have seen in the ideas of Kautilya a combination of Chinese Confucianism and Legalism.

How Kautilya died is not entirely clear. Some accounts say he starved himself to death, a common practice in Jainism. Other versions say he died as a result of a court conspiracy

What we know for sure is that his death took place when Bindusara, the second Mauryan ruler, was on the throne.

Kautilya was a pioneer in diplomacy and government administration. His merit was not only to come up with very important practical advice for government, but also to organize them in a systematic and logical fashion.

Even today, the Arthashastra is the number one classic of diplomacy in India. His vision of a unified India would become a reality during the time of Ashoka, the third ruler of the Mauryan dynast

It's not necessary that a great thinker is always right about everything. Acharya Chanakya was undoubtedly a great economist and revolutionary. His works of wisdom are more than 2000 years old,

still many of his teachings are relevant and useful in today's world. His books ‘Arthashastra’ and ‘Nitishashtra’ cover subjects starting with economics to ethics and philosophy to Politics.

Though he tried to present his views on various topics, his theories on administration are one of the best. Let us know some interesting things about his life in this slide show….

According to a popular legend mentioned in the Jain texts
According to a popular legend mentioned in the Jain texts, Chanakya used to add small doses of poison to the food eaten by Emperor Chandragupta Maurya in order to make him immune to the poisoning attempts by the enemies.

Unaware, Chandragupta once fed some of his food to his queen, Durdhara, who was seven days away from delivery.

The queen, not immune to the poison, collapsed and died within a few minutes.

In order to save the heir to the throne, Chanakya cut the queen's belly open and extracted the foetus just as she died. The baby was named Bindusara, because he was touched by a drop (bindu) of blood having poison.

Chanakya, apart from being a well-known scholar and economist, was a shrewd and cunning politician.
Chanakya, apart from being a well-known scholar and economist, was a shrewd and cunning politician

In a book called ‘Chanakya’s Chant’, written by Ashwin Sangi, he was the one who united the kingdoms of India against the attack of Alexander the Great.

According to one of the stories, he supposedly raised an army of young girls known as ‘vishakanyas’, which he used very effectively against his enemies.

These girls were given small amount of poison everyday from childhood till puberty to make them immune from poison.

When they used to reach a right age, Chanakya used to use them to lure and kill his enemies as even a kiss of these girls was highly venomous.

His thoughts on women are highly condemned in today’s scenario.
His thoughts on women are highly condemned in today’s scenario. He said that women are by nature vile and corrupt and should not be trusted.

As per Chanakya ...
As per Chanakya, a woman does not become as holy by offering charity, by observing hundreds of fasts, or by sipping sacred water, as by sipping the water used to wash her husband's feet.

About wife, Chanakya said ...
About wife, Chanakya said that a good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does, loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night

The heart of a woman is not united ...
The heart of a woman is not united; it is divided. While she is talking to one man, she looks lustfully at another and thinks fondly of a third in her heart.

He whose wife's actions are in accordance with his wishes has heaven on earth.
He whose wife's actions are in accordance with his wishes has heaven on earth.

A wise man should marry a virgin of a respectable family even if she is deformed
A wise man should marry a virgin of a respectable family even if she is deformed.

According to one legend, Chanakya retired to the jungle and starved himself to death.
According to one legend, Chanakya retired to the jungle and starved himself to death. According to another legend mentioned by the Jain writer Hemachandra, Chanakya died as a result of a conspiracy by Subandhu, one of Bindusara's ministers. Subandhu, who did not like Chanakya,