Chanakya, India's political mastermind
(Inspired by the 1991 television serial, Chanakya. I will be posting on alternate days, starting today.)
It was the ancient period of Indian history, about four-hundred odd years Before Common Era. The largest Indian province, Magadha (pronounced मगध), was in the hands of the Nanda rulers. The Nanda royalty was characterised by the typical image of tyranny and anarchy - the oppression of common man, lack of transparency, and unjustified levying of heavy taxes. According to Indian texts, a king was to treat his subjects as a father would his child. But in that case, why would the Magadhan populace allow itself to be thwarted at the hands of a dictator?
'तमसो मा जयोतिर्गमय' means, "Lead me away from darkness, to light." In this context, the line does not refer to light and darkness in their physical aspects - the 'light' symbolises awareness, knowledge. Then what is the darkness? When reflected upon, darkness doesn't exist in itself - it is merely a state of the complete absence of light. Likewise, 'ignorance' does not exist - it is but a state of non-consciousness, or, in layman's terms, being 'unaware'!
In a state of complete darkness, as is obvious, it is impossible to see. The four directions seem lost. Similarly, the path of ignorance is a path of listlessness and a complete lack of clarity. In the dark, if you hold the hand of someone with a candle, your surroundings become clear to the eye. However, if you wander alone, even a rope that makes the barest contact with the skin, feels like a venomous snake! Can one differentiate between even an inanimate, totally harmless bunch of twisted cords and a fearsome, serpentine creature that bears deadly toxins in its vicious fangs? The mind is clouded, and hence, discretion is lost. Ignorance is a state of chaos, a complete lack of order. Consciousness is, on the other hand, the ability to chalk out the line between the moral and immoral, and to know the path you tread. It is a state of fearlessness (अभयं ) - which can only be born from clarity and unity of vision and thought. This fearlessness confers freedom.
The only time when a dictatorship thrives is when it shuns the learned, for, where does learning flow from if not from the learned? Ignorance prevails, the people fall into bondage, and follow the tyrant, like a herd of sheep would follow a blind shepherd!
This was the exact reason why the Nanda lineage survived. Magadha was ruled by Dhanananda (pronounced धननंद), and the administrative system was totally corrupted. Centres of thought and learning were paid no heed to, intellectuals were silenced, and the people were held down with an iron hand.
Just as it takes just a spark to grow into a fire and destroy the darkness, it took just one man to collapse the empire and re-establish justice and order in the country. And this man was Chānakya.
It was the ancient period of Indian history, about four-hundred odd years Before Common Era. The largest Indian province, Magadha (pronounced मगध), was in the hands of the Nanda rulers. The Nanda royalty was characterised by the typical image of tyranny and anarchy - the oppression of common man, lack of transparency, and unjustified levying of heavy taxes. According to Indian texts, a king was to treat his subjects as a father would his child. But in that case, why would the Magadhan populace allow itself to be thwarted at the hands of a dictator?
'तमसो मा जयोतिर्गमय' means, "Lead me away from darkness, to light." In this context, the line does not refer to light and darkness in their physical aspects - the 'light' symbolises awareness, knowledge. Then what is the darkness? When reflected upon, darkness doesn't exist in itself - it is merely a state of the complete absence of light. Likewise, 'ignorance' does not exist - it is but a state of non-consciousness, or, in layman's terms, being 'unaware'!
In a state of complete darkness, as is obvious, it is impossible to see. The four directions seem lost. Similarly, the path of ignorance is a path of listlessness and a complete lack of clarity. In the dark, if you hold the hand of someone with a candle, your surroundings become clear to the eye. However, if you wander alone, even a rope that makes the barest contact with the skin, feels like a venomous snake! Can one differentiate between even an inanimate, totally harmless bunch of twisted cords and a fearsome, serpentine creature that bears deadly toxins in its vicious fangs? The mind is clouded, and hence, discretion is lost. Ignorance is a state of chaos, a complete lack of order. Consciousness is, on the other hand, the ability to chalk out the line between the moral and immoral, and to know the path you tread. It is a state of fearlessness (अभयं ) - which can only be born from clarity and unity of vision and thought. This fearlessness confers freedom.
The only time when a dictatorship thrives is when it shuns the learned, for, where does learning flow from if not from the learned? Ignorance prevails, the people fall into bondage, and follow the tyrant, like a herd of sheep would follow a blind shepherd!
This was the exact reason why the Nanda lineage survived. Magadha was ruled by Dhanananda (pronounced धननंद), and the administrative system was totally corrupted. Centres of thought and learning were paid no heed to, intellectuals were silenced, and the people were held down with an iron hand.
Just as it takes just a spark to grow into a fire and destroy the darkness, it took just one man to collapse the empire and re-establish justice and order in the country. And this man was Chānakya.
Wow! How interesting!
ReplyDeleteThankyou so much for the encouragement Sahitra! Keep writing too :) do check her blog out at http://poetsutopia.blogspot.com
ReplyDelete