The Birth And Death of Chanakya!

September 27, 2009

Dear All, The following write-up is from: http://jainology.blogspot.com/2007/11/birth-and-death-of-chanakya.html Love and regards,Sreenadh==================================

by Jayakrishnan NairKautilya

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 manwho achieved so

much in the time period 300 BC. What was happening inthe world during

that period? Darius I had expanded his empire fromNorth India in the

east to Macedonia in the west. The NativeAmericans in Central America

were in the formative period of theMayan 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? Didthe 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] . Butthen, Indika of Megasthenes is not

available in its entirety but onlyas fragments in the writings of later

Greek historians. So theabsence of reference to Chanakya in Indika does

not prove or disprovethe existence of Chanakya.Another theory

is that Chanakya was a Kerala Brahmin who someho wreached 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 theboy, whom he educated for a period of seven to eight

years[7] .As per Jain tradition, Chanakya was born in the

village Canaka in theGolla district as the son of a Brahmin named Canin

and his wifeCaneúvarî. 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, shedied.

Chanakya decided that the baby should not die; hence he cutopen the

belly of the queen and took out the baby. A drop (bindu) o fpoison 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 forthe 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 begfor 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 `TheLives 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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