The Empires (I)

Bangalore

Sunday, January 22, 1989. 4:15pm

Chandragupta and Chanakya: The Mauryan Empire Established: (I)

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Tracing the roots of Indian history which have penetrated so deep in our land, Nehru now reaches that era in the history in our land, when we see a Brahmin – Chanakya, Vishnugutpa, or Kautilya as we otherwise know him to be holding the reings of the kingdom of Pataliputra in his hands.

The author or Artha Shastra is pictured as not only an intelligent scholar but also as an efficient statesmen, a diplomat and a man who is very unscrupulous and rigid in the pursuit of his aim. He doesn’t get discouraged when the scholars of his age dissuade him into writing Artha Shastra. “After all what is the result of all this efforts” – a few commentaries and criticisms – is their argument. There are very few people who would imbibe all these into their being.

However, Chanakya believes in the policy that an effort nevertheless should be made. If he is able to sow the seed of his ‘knowledge’ in the mind of a single individual, his efforts will not have gone in vain. Thus, what more can a true scholar ask for?

Bold and scheming, proud and vengeful, as he is, we also perceive him as a person who is farsighted. He recognises the potential that is in Chandragupta and takes him as his pupil. Chanakya is seen here as a person who believes in making use of the potential that is ingrained in every person to the best. His supreme theory that lies hidden in his wisdom and knowledge has found an outlet in his book “Arthashastra’ and in training Chandragupta adeptly to establish and empire. To him, every problem has a solution to it. It (solution) has only to be discovered.

Thus, we see that in Nehru’s Discovery of India, we not only discover the country’s rich culture and tradition that is so concentrated in its history, but, at the same time, we discover ourselves, our individuality as well as in others. We discover those principles and value which have till now been alive in the old books and our manuscripts. It is now left to us to ‘discover’ this living being and put us into action.