Early Machiavelli From India

Posted: 11/6/2017 Updated/Revised: 1/31/2019

Update of 1/31/2019

I thoroughly regret that my brain is still not interfaced with the Internet! My memory is not as good as I wish it should be.

Today (1/31/2019, I realized that I had already written a blog post here about Chanakya in 2014, but back then I was not aware that he could be considered an equal of Machiavelli.


Original Post

Trigger

Recently, I watched a documentary video on Indian history and learnt about Chanakya and his famous publication Arthashastra. Unfortunately, I do not remember which video it was, but I suspect it was one of Michael Wood’s great Story of India episodes.

I have to admit, I never heard of a Machiavelli from India before, even predating the Italian Machiavelli by about 1,000 years. I would bet that many Westerners never heard of him either.

Motivation

It is an incredible and incomprehensible ignorance or arrogance of Western people to know so little about the truly amazing India. Its many varied people, its many minor and major religions and languages, its tremendous history, its variety and complexity of food and so on …
India, one of the oldest and continuous civilizations on our planet.

About 500-400 BC Is A Magic Number

Rare are the moments in history when extraordinary individuals make their appearance around the same time, but sometimes in very different parts of the world under very different circumstances, to promote human well being and enrich our understanding of the world.

About 500-400 BC is such a time. We have the ancient Greek (e.g. Socrates) and Chinese philosophers (e.g. Laozi, Confucius)), and Chanakya.

Chanakya

This teacher, philosopher, economist, jurist and royal advisor who is believed to have lived around 400 BC.

Chanakya is believed to have been a teacher at the university of Taxila (a.k.a. Takshashila), one of the oldest universities of the world.

Unlike the Italian Machiavelli, whose advice was rejected by the powers that be, Chanakya was in the service of a mighty emperor.

Chanakya advised the first, and most famous Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya (b. 340 BC, d. 297 BC) in his rise to power. He is widely credited for having played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire. Chanakya served as the chief advisor to both emperors Chandragupta and his son Bindusara.

His life’s story reads more like a fairy or fantastic tale. Here are some of the stories about his life (emphasis added):
“Chanakya had an ugly appearance, accentuated by his broken teeth and crooked feet. ”
[Never dismiss an individual for his or her looks at your peril!]
“[The father] did not want his son to become haughty, so he broke Chanakya's teeth. The monks then prophesied that the baby would go on to become a power behind the throne.”
[There is some special meaning behind the broken teeth (perhaps even broken canine teeth).]
“Chanakya [had at some point two potential successors to the throne]: Pabbatha and Chandragupta. He gave each of them an amulet to be worn around the neck with a woolen thread. One day, he decided to test them. While Chandragupta was asleep, he asked Pabbatha to remove Chandragupta's woolen thread without breaking it and without waking up Chandragupta. Pabbata failed to accomplish this task. Some time later, when Pabbatha was sleeping, Chanakya challenged Chandragupta to complete the same task. Chandragupta retrieved the woolen thread by cutting off Pabbata's head. For the next 7 years, Chanakya trained Chandragupta for royal duties.”
[Certainly, Niccolo Machiavelli would have been impressed! Like Alexander the Great solved the riddle of the Gordian knot.]
“The army of Chandragupta and Chanakya invaded [a] kingdom, but disbanded after facing a severe defeat. While wandering in disguise, the two men once listened to the conversation between a woman and her son. The child had eaten the middle of a cake, and thrown away the edges. The woman scolded him, saying that he was eating food like Chandragupta, who attacked the central part of the kingdom instead of conquering the border villages first. Chanakya and Chandragupta realized their mistake. They assembled a new army, and started conquering the border villages.”
“Chanakya ordered a fisherman to find the place where [the defeated emperor] had hidden his treasure. As soon as the fishermen informed Chanakya about its location, Chanakya had him killed. Chanakya then anointed Chandragupta as the new king, and tasked a man … with eliminating rebels and robbers from the kingdom.”
[If you think Niccolo Machiavelli was immoral, think again]
“Chanakya started mixing small doses of poison in the new king's food to make him immune to poisoning attempts by the enemies. Chandragupta, who was not aware of this, once shared the food with his pregnant queen, who was seven days away from delivery. Chanakya arrived just as the queen ate the poisoned morsel. Realizing that she was going to die, Chanakya decided to save the unborn child. He cut off the queen's head and cut open her belly with a sword to take out the foetus. Over the next seven days, he placed the foetus in the belly of a goat freshly killed each day. After seven days, Chandragupta's son was "born". He was named Bindusara, because his body was spotted with drops ("bindu") of goat's blood.”
[Absolutely amazing story! Jaw dropping if you think this was told to have happened 300 years before Christ.]
“Chanakya and Chandragupta started sieging [other] towns ... One particular town offered a strong resistance. Chanakya entered this town disguised as a Shaivite mendicant, and declared that the siege would end if the idols of the seven mothers were removed from the town's temple. As soon as the superstitious defenders removed the idols from the temple, Chanakya ordered his army to end the siege. When the defenders started celebrating their victory, Chanakya's army launched a surprise attack and captured the town.”
[Does this not sound a bit like Homer’s Iliad, the Trojan war? Using a ruse to conquer a city under siege.]
There are more stories about Chanakya for yours to discover ...

Arthashastra

Anyone ever heard of this fascinating, ancient treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy? It was probably written by several authors over centuries, but authorship is typically credited to Chanakya.

“Composed, expanded and redacted between the 2nd century BCE and 3rd century CE, the Arthashastra was influential until the 12th century, when it disappeared. It was rediscovered in 1905 … [and] published in 1909. The first English translation was published in 1915.”

“It includes books on the nature of government, law, civil and criminal court systems, ethics, economics, markets and trade, the methods for screening ministers, diplomacy, theories on war, nature of peace, and the duties and obligations of a king. The text incorporates Hindu philosophy, includes … economic and cultural details on agriculture, mineralogy, mining and metals, animal husbandry, medicine, forests and wildlife.”

The important Indian concept of Ahimsa (non violence towards all living beings) can also be found in this treatise.

Arthashastra defined a virtuous, benevolent, and wise king in the following way:
“In the happiness of his subjects lies his happiness; in their welfare his welfare; whatever pleases himself he shall not consider as good, but whatever pleases his subjects he shall consider as good”
“Has self-control, having conquered the inimical temptations of the senses”. “The greatest enemies of a king are not others, but are these six: lust, anger, greed, conceit, arrogance and foolhardiness”
“Cultivates the intellect by association with elders”. “[H]e avoids false and flattering advisors and instead associates with the true and accomplished elders”
“Keeps his eyes open through spies”
“Is ever active in promoting the security and welfare of the people”
“Improves his own discipline by (continuing his) learning in all branches of knowledge; and
“Endears himself to his people by enriching them and doing good to them”
“Keep away from another's wife”. “Not covet another's property”
“Practice ahimsa”
“Avoid daydreaming, capriciousness, falsehood and extravagance”
“Avoid association with harmful persons and indulging in (harmful) activities.”
“[T]hat artha (sound economies, pursuit of wealth) is the most important; dharma and kama are both dependent on it.
“[A]lways respect those councilors who warn him of the dangers of transgressing the limits of good conduct, reminding him sharply (as with a goad) of the times prescribed for various duties and cautioning him even when he errs in private.
“If the king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic. If he is slack (and lazy in performing his duties), the subjects will also be lax and thereby eat into his wealth. Besides, a lazy king will easily fall into the hands of enemies.”

One would only wish those busy body, elected, lifetime professional politicians of Western democracies would study and apply the Arthashastra.

Unfortunately, I have not yet had time to study this interesting treatise in more detail. I look forward to come back to it as soon as possible. I am sure it contains so much more ...

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanakya
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthashastra
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Arthashastra