Fwd: The Birth And Death of Chanakya! by Jayakrishnan Nair

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jainfriends , " Mahavir " <msanglikar> wrote:

The Birth And Death of Chanakya! by Jayakrishnan Nair

 

Kautilya or Chanakya or Vishnugupta, as per popular legend, was the

teacher of the first Mauryan Emperor Chandragupta. He was responsible

for destroying the Nanda dynasty, which was ruling Magadha, and

installing Chandragupta on the throne. He is also known as the author

of Arthashastra, an elaborate treatise on economics and government.

He was responsible for uniting the Indian states for fighting against

the attack by Alexander of Macedonia around 327 BC.

 

Chanakya is a fascinating historical character because here was a man

who achieved so much in the time period 300 BC. What was happening in

the world during that period? Darius I had expanded his empire from

North India in the east to Macedonia in the west. The Native

Americans in Central America were in the formative period of the

Mayan Civilization. Aristotle, the student of Plato and teacher of

Alexander of Macedonia, had established the Lyceum, a school in

Athens. It would be at least two hundred years for the Roman Empire

to be established and three hundred years for Christ to be born[1] .

 

By the time of Chanakya in India, Buddha and Mahavira had discovered

their paths of enlightenment two hundred years back. Takshasilâ had

established itself as a place of learning and it was there that

Panini had written the Sanskrit Grammar. The new states in Bihar and

Uttar Pradesh by uttarapatha along the base of the Himalayas

maintained contact with Takshasilâ and at the eastern end of the

uttarapatha was the kingdom of Magadha with its capital city,

Pataliputra. Chanakya's life was connected to these two cities,

Pataliputra and Takshasilâ[2] .

 

Where did this man come from? What was his lineage? Was he born in

Takshasilâ or Pataliputra? Or was he from Kerala? How did he die? Did

the kingmaker die of natural causes or was he murdered? Literature is

abundant with theories of his origins, while there is almost no

information on his life after he crowned Chandragupta as the king of

Magadha. But recently I found a piece of information on his life

after that event, and how he died.

 

Before we get to his death, let us find out where he came from. First

of all, was there a person called Chanakya? Did he live during the

same time as Chandragupta Maurya? There is a reason to doubt that

Chanakya lived during the same time as Chandragupta Maurya because

Megasthenes, who was the Greek Ambassador in the court of

Chandragupta, never mentioned Chanakya in his book Indika[3] . But

then, Indika of Megasthenes is not available in its entirety but only

as fragments in the writings of later Greek historians. So the

absence of reference to Chanakya in Indika does not prove or disprove

the existence of Chanakya.

 

Another theory is that Chanakya was a Kerala Brahmin who somehow

reached the court of the Nanda king at Pataliputra[4]. But then,

Kerala did not have any Brahmin population during the time of

Chanakya. The first people to arrive in Kerala were the Ezhavas who

came from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar sometime around 230-200 BC. These

first immigrants were Buddhists and were Emperor Ashoka's subjects.

The Nambudiri Brahmins arrived in Kerala only around 500-600 AD[5].

 

The next theory is that Chanakya was a North Indian Brahmin, born and

educated in Takshasilâ. He was physically ugly, had a disgusting

complexion and his limbs were deformed2. Chanakya came all the way

from Takshasilâ to Pâtaliputra in pursuit of learning. Pâtaliputra

was a famous center of learning and it is considered a compliment

that a teacher from one of the greatest centers of learning in

Takshasilâ would come to this city in eastern India[6].

 

According to another historian, Chandragupta was spotted by Chanakya

when he was a boy of eight or nine years. Chanakya is described as a

resident of Takshasilâ, and he returned to his native city with the

boy, whom he educated for a period of seven to eight years[7] .

 

As per Jain tradition, Chanakya was born in the village Canaka in the

Golla district as the son of a Brahmin named Canin and his wife

Caneúvarî. Canin was a well-known Jain layman and learned Jain monks

frequented his house. Caneúvarî had a child who had teeth which was

already developed, and when the monks were informed of the birth of

this child, they told Canin that he would be a king. Hearing this

news, Canin destroyed the teeth of the child.

 

While there are many theories about the origins of Chanakya, there is

less information about him after Chandragupta was crowned the king of

Magadha. Even the popular serial Chanakya by Chandraprakash Dwivedi,

which was shown on Doordarshan, ends at this point. The only

information I could find about Chanakya's life after this period is

in the book `The Lives of the Jain Elders' by the Jain monk

Hemacandra.

 

While Chanakya served as the Prime Minister of Chandragupta Maurya,

according to Hemacandra, he started adding small amounts of poison in

Chandragupta's food so that he would get used to it. The aim of this

was to prevent the Emperor from being poisoned by enemies[8].

 

One day the queen, Durdha, shared the food with the Emperor while she

was pregnant. Since she was not used to eating poisoned food, she

died. Chanakya decided that the baby should not die; hence he cut

open the belly of the queen and took out the baby. A drop (bindu) of

poison had passed to the baby's head, and hence Chanakya named him

Bindusara.

 

When Bindusara became a youth, Chandragupta gave up the throne and

followed the Jain saint Bhadrabahu to Karnataka and settled in a

place known as Sravana Belagola. He lived as an ascetic for some

years and died of starvation according to Jain tradition[9].

 

Chanakya meanwhile stayed as the Prime Minister of Bindusara.

Bindusara also had a minister named Subandhu who did not like

Chanakya. One day he told Bindusara that Chanakya was responsible for

the murder of his mother. Bindusara asked the nurses who confirmed

this story and he became very angry with Chanakya.

 

Chanakya, on hearing that the Emperor was angry with him, thought

that anyway he was at the end of his life. He donated all his wealth

to the poor, widows and orphans and sat on a dung heap, prepared to

die by total abstinence from food and drink. Bindusara meanwhile

heard the full story of his birth from the nurses and rushed to beg

forgiveness of Chanakya. But Chanakya would not relent. Bindusara

went back and vent his fury on Subandhu, who asked for time to beg

for forgiveness from Chanakya.

 

Subandhu, who still hated Chanakya, wanted to make sure that Chanakya

did not return to the city. So he arranged for a ceremony of respect,

but unnoticed by anyone, slipped a smoldering charcoal ember inside

the dung heap. Aided by the wind, the dung heap was on fire and the

man behind the Mauryan Empire and the author of Arthashastra was

burned to death.

 

R.C.C. Fynes writes in the introduction to the translation of `The

Lives of the Jain Elders' that the stories told by Hemacandra are

legend and not history. Historical reality may or may not be the

basis of these legends. So we do not know if the story of the death

of Chanakya is history or legend. But this is the only one I could

find.

 

Footnote: This is an amateur attempt to understand Indian history.

This article is in no way a complete survey of all literature

available of the era. I wrote this article based on the books in my

possession to express my understanding of that period in Indian

history.

 

Notes:

 

[1] Microsoft Encarta, 2003 Edition

 

[2] Keay, John, India: a history, Harper Collins, 2000, Pg 60-62

 

[3]Rangarajan L.N., The Arthashatra, Penguin Books, 1992, Pg 19.

 

[4]Ibid, Pg 16

 

[5]Balakrishnan V., History of the Syrian Christians of Kerala,

Kerala Publications, 1999, Pg 50

 

[6]Mookerji, Radha Kumud, Chandragupta Maurya and his Times, Motilal

Banarasidass Publishers, Fourth Edition, Pg, 18

 

[7]Ibid, Pg 16

 

[8]Hemacandra, The Lives of the Jain Elders, Oxford University Press,

Canto 8

 

[9]Radha Kumud Mookerji, Chandragupta Maurya and his Times, Motilal

Banarasidass Publishers, Fourth Edition, Pg 40

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