| Show Info | Chanakya & Chandragupta | Dates and Venue | Contact Information |
Characters and the Setting
Who is Chanakya?
Chanakya (350-283BC) was a master strategist, astute statesman and a shrewd political administrator. He was well versed in the Vedas and was a man of action. A man of foresight, he was always prepared for the worst. Fearlessness, compassion towards the poor and evil to deceit when needed, were some of his legendary traits. He was supposed to be extremely secretive. He was an uncrowned kingmaker who held the reigns of the Magadha Empire and looked upon the emperor more as a beloved pupil than as a master.
Chanakya wrote the first ever known book on political sciences and economics.
Leading a simple and austere life, uninterested in pomp and pageantry of high position, having redeemed his pledge and on accomplishing his purpose, retired Brahmin-like, to a life of contemplation and contentment. His style of administration was based on the four principles of persuasion, enticement, sowing dissension and punishment (saama, daana, bheda, and danda). He never refrained from achieving his purpose by unscrupulous means. Yet at the same time he was wise enough to acknowledge the fact that means unsuited to the end would defeat the very purpose.
Chanakya is regarded as the architect of Chandragupta's early rise to power. Chanakya had purchased Chandragupta from Bihar, on his way back to Taxila. In all forms of the Chanakya legend, he is thrown out of the Nanda court by the king, whereupon he swears revenge. While in Magadha, Chanakya by chance met Chandragupta in whom he spotted great military and executive abilities. Chanakya was impressed by the prince's personality and intelligence, and immediately took the young boy under his wing to fulfill his silent vow. Chandragupta Maurya, with the help of Chanakya, began laying the foundation of the Maurya Empire. There is no authenticated source about Chanakya’s birth, death and his family.
Who is ChandraGupta?
There is no authenticated source about his birth, death and his family.
Chandragupta Maurya (born 340 BCE, ruled 320 – 298 BCE), was the founder of the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta succeeded in bringing together most of the Indian subcontinent, inclusive of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, Bangladesh and so on. As a result, Chandragupta is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor.
Chandragupta established a strong centralized state with a complex administration at Pataliputra, which, according to Megasthenes, was "surrounded by a wooden wall pierced by 64 gates and 570 towers— (and) rivaled the splendors of contemporaneous Persian sites such as Susa and Ecbatana."
Chandragupta established the state government-federal government system, their responsibilities, relationship with each other and the state tax/federal tax system. Megasthenes describes a disciplined multitude under Chandragupta, who live simply, honestly, and do not know writing:
" The Indians all live frugally, especially when in camp. They dislike a great undisciplined multitude, and consequently they observe good order. Theft is of very rare occurrence. Megasthenes says that those who were in the camp of Sandrakottos (Chandragupta), wherein lay 400,000 men, found that the thefts reported on any one day did not exceed the value of two hundred drachmae, and this among a people who have no written laws, but are ignorant of writing, and must therefore in all the business of life trust to memory. They live, nevertheless, happily enough, being simple in their manners and frugal. They never drink wine except at sacrifices. Their beverage is a liquor composed from rice instead of barley, and their food is principally a rice-pottage." Strabo XV. i. 53-56, quoting Megasthenes
The Empire was divided into four provinces, with the imperial capital at Pataliputra. From Ashokan edicts, the names of the four provincial capitals are Tosali (in the east), Ujjain in the west, Suvarnagiri (in the south), and Taxila in the north). The head of the provincial administration was the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the provinces as king's representative. The kumara was assisted by Mahamatyas and council of ministers. This organizational structure was reflected at the imperial level with the Emperor and his Mantriparishad (Council of Ministers).
Historians theorize that the organization of the Empire was in line with the extensive bureaucracy described by Chanakya in the Arthashastra: a sophisticated civil service governed everything from municipal hygiene to international trade. The expansion and defense of the empire was made possible by what appears to have been the largest standing army of its time. According to Megasthenes, the empire wielded a military of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 war elephants. A vast espionage system collected intelligence for both internal and external security purposes. Having renounced offensive warfare and expansionism, Ashoka nevertheless continued to maintain this large army, to protect the Empire and instill stability and peace across West and South Asia.
According to the ancient scriptures of the Jainists, Chandragupta abdicated at the end of his life (in 297?) in favor of his son, Bindusara, and converted to the Jaina faith; he died as an ascetic, having fasted to death.
The Maurya empire flourished under Bindusara, and later his son Ashoka.
Famous students of Takshasila University
Established around 700BC, a huge university existed in ancient India where over 10,500 students from all across the world came for higher studies.
Students from all across the world used to come to attain specialization in over 64 different fields of study like vedas, grammar, philosophy, ayurveda, agriculture, surgery, politics, archery, warfare, astronomy, commerce, futurology, music, dance, etc. There were even curious subjects like the art of discovering hidden treasure, decrypting encrypted messages, etc
Takshasila, the place where this university existed, is now in Pakistan, and gets its name from Taksha, who was the son of Bharatha. Taksha ruled over the kingdom of Taksha Khanda which even extended beyond modern day Uzbekistan, and Tashkent -the present day Uzbek capital also gets its name from Taksha/Takshasila. Click here to see a collection of modern photographs of Takshasila.
Students were admitted to this university at the age of 16 after they had completed their basic education in their local institutions. Every single graduate who passed out of this university would become a well sought after scholar all across the subcontinent!
Admission into this university was purely based on merit. The students would opt for electives and then would do indepth study and research into their field of choice.
Some of the students who graduated out of the Takshasila university:
Panini was another great product of this university (born about 500-600BC). He was an expert in language and grammar and authored one of the greatest works on grammar ever written called Ashtadhyayi. Ashtadhyayi means eight chapters and is more complicated and at the same time highly technical and specific defining the features and rules of Sanskrit grammar.
Jivak (about 400BC) was another genius who came out of the Takshashila university. He was a doctor and an expert in pulse reading (understanding the health status of the body by just listening to the person’s pulse!). He studied Ayurveda in Takshasila University for seven years. His areas of specialization was Panchakarma, Marma and Surgery.
Jivak was the personal physician of Buddha and also cured the Nadi Vran of Buddha! He also worked with the great classic beauty Amrapali and ensured that she retained her youthful countenance and performed many amazing operations on her using only Marma points and surgical procedures! He also invented a cure for Filariasis. There are over 15000 handwritten manuscripts of Jivak’s expertise passed on by generations to their children and are still preserved in India even today.
Another great student from Takshasila university was Vishnu Sharma(300BC), the author of the great book that teaches the art of political science in the form of simple beautiful stories called the Pancha Tantra (meaning the five techniques). It is said that Vishnu Sharma wrote these stories in order to convert three dumb princes of a king into able political administrators within a span of six months!
Great political master Chanakya (also called Kautilya/Vishnugupta (350-283BC)) who not only authored the world’s finest work till today on political duties, statecraft, economic policies, state intelligence systems, administrative skills and military strategy, called the Artha Shastra which consists of 15 books, but who also guided Chandragupta Maurya as a mentor who founded the Great Mauryan Empire, and also served as the prime minister of the Mauryan Empire!
Charaka (300BC), the famous ancient Indian ayurvedic physician was a product of Takshashila university. He originally authored the Charaka Samhita (simplifying an even older ayurvedic work called the Agnivesha Samhita) which along with Sushrutha Samhita, Ashtanga Sangraha and Ashtanga Hrudayam forms the root of modern Ayurveda. Charaka said, A physician who fails to enter the body of a patient with the lamp of knowledge and understanding can never treat diseases.
Aryabhata (476-550AD), Vedic mathematician and astronomer, wrote texts on astronomy and mathematics. He formulated the process of calculating the motion of planets and the time of eclipses. Aryabhatt was the first to proclaim the earth was round, rotating on an axis, orbiting the sun and suspended in space. This was around 1,000 years before Copernicus. He was a geometry genius credited with calculating pi to four decimal places, developing the trigonomic sine table and the area of a triangle. Perhaps his most important contribution was the concept of the zero.
Takshasila was destroyed by White Huns in 499 AD
 | |||
|
About the Show |
Chanakya & Chandragupta |
Dates and Venue |
Contact Information |
| Learn more about people involved in the show. |
Learn more about these historical characaters. |
Sunday, Sep 13, 2009 2.30 pm. Please click here for timings, directions and parking. |
Please contact us by clicking on the link below. |
 |
|
|
|
 | |||