Chankya

Chānakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य) (c. 350-283 BC) was adviser and prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340-293 BC), and architect of his rise to power.
Kautilya and Vishnugupta, the names by which the political treatise Arthaśhāstra identifies its author, are traditionally identified with Chānakya. Some scholars consider Chanakya to be "the pioneer economist of the world" . Chankya was a professor at Taxila University and is widely believed to be responsible for the first Indian empire.

Identity

He is generally called Chanakya^[5] but, in his capacity as author of the Arthaśhāstra, is generally referred to as Kautilya.^[6] The Arthaśhāstra identifies its author by the name Kautilya,^[2] except for one verse which refers to him by the name Vishnugupta.^[7] One of the earliest Sanskrit literature to explicitly identify Chanakya with Vishnugupta was Vishnu Sarma's Panchatantra in the 3rd century BC.^[8]

Legend

• Chanakya is born with a complete set of teeth, a sign that he would become king, which is inappropriate for a Brahmin like Chanakya. Chāṇakya's teeth are therefore broken and it is prophesied that he will rule through another.
• The Nanda King throws Chānakya out of his court, prompting Chānakya to swear revenge.
• Chānakya searches for one worthy for him to rule through. Chānakya encounters a young Chandragupta Maurya who is a born leader even as a child.
• Chānakya's initial attempt to overthrow Nanda fails, whereupon he comes across a mother scolding her child for burning himself by eating from the middle of a bun or bowl of porridge rather than the cooler edge. Chāṇakya realizes his initial strategic error and, instead of attacking the heart of Nanda territory, slowly chips away at its edges.
• Chānakya betrays his ally the mountain king Parvata.
• Chānakya enlists the services of a fanatical weaver to rid the kingdom of rebels.
• Chānakya adds poison to the food eaten by Chandragupta, now king, in order to make him immune. Unaware, Chandragupta feeds some of his food to his queen, who is in her ninth month of pregnancy. In order to save the heir to the throne, Chānakya cuts the queen open and extracts the foetus who is named Bindusāra because he was touched by a drop (bindu) of blood or of poison.
• Chānakya's political rivalry with Subandhu leads to his death.

Life

Kautilya was educated at Taxila or Takshashila in present day Pakistan. The new states (in present-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh) by the northern high road of commerce along the base of the Himalayas maintained contact with Takshasilâ and at the eastern end of the northern high road (uttarapatha) was the kingdom of Magadha with its capital city, Pataliputra , now known as Patna. Chanakya's life was connected to these two cities, Pataliputra and Taxila.In his early years he was tutored extensively in the Vedas - Chanakya memorized them completely at a very early age. He was also taught mathematics, geography and science along with religion. Later he travelled to Taxila, where he became a teacher of politics. Chanakya taught subjects using the best of practical knowledge acquired by the teachers. The age of entering the University was sixteen. The branches of study most sought after around India at that time ranged from law, medicine, warfare and other disciplines. Two of his more famous students were Bhadrabhatt and Purushdutt.

Chanakya lived to ripe old age and died around 283 BC.