Calanus

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We are discussing on Ancient India (/join) about the gymnosophist Calanus. The real name of Calanus is Sphines which might be " Sthanu " in sanskrit, indicating that he is a Jain monk. This goes well with the version of Plutarch that Sphines killed himself on a funeral pyre, sitting in a still posture, in spite of severe bad health, when the flames were consuming his body.

Calanus has given an important lesson to Alexander that he should rule his kingdom from the center and not from the outskirts, ever searching for new lands to be won. His story of staying still at the time of death on a funeral pyre and that he was able to give good lessons in State Governance reminds us of Canakya, the original writer of Artha sastra, the science of State Governance. Interestingly, it is Jain tradition which talks of the end of Canakya on a funeral pyre where he sat still when a maliciously dropped charcoal starts a fire in the pyre to consume his body.

Harishena in his katha kosha says :

upasargam sahityamevam subnadhuvihitam tadaa

samaadhi-maraNam praapaya chaaNakyah siddhimiiyivaan

 

tatah pashchim dig-bhaage divya-kraunacha purasya saa

nishadyakaa munerasya vandyteadyaapi saadhubhih

 

With the upasarga, the muni Chanakya passed away in samadhi marana.

In the eastern part of Kraunchpur, there is a nishadya (memorial),

which is still visited by noble people and revered. We know that many of the law givers (smriti karta) of Ancient India were brahmins, especially from South India (Apastamba, Bodhayana, Katyayana and Bharadwaja) .

But here we also find that the Teacher of Calunus is called Dandanis (one who is acquaited with Danda, another name for State Governance).Thus, there is a possibility that there might have been a strong school dedicated to State Governace amongst Jain monks of 4th century bce.

Kishore patnaik