Chanakya: Leadership Lessons for Today’s World

Biography of Chanakya

He is also known as Kautilya and Vishnugupta. He was the prime minister under the reign of Chandragupta Maurya. The name, Kautilya was given to him as he comes from his ‘kutil’ gotra, which means shrewd and cunning. He was called Vishnugupta as it was believed that he was a follower of Lord Vishnu. He was called Chanakya due to his father’s name Rishi Chanak, who was a Brahmin.There is no clear consensus about Kautilya’s life and the times in which he lived. He lived in the 4th to 3rd century BCE. He was contemporary to Aristotle and Alexander the Great. His birthplace is debated among scholars. According to some,  he was born in Takshila. Few also believe that he was born in Patliputra in Magadha. Chanakya has played a very important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire under Chandra Gupta (321-297 BCE).

Chanakya and the Mauryan Empire

Chanakya can be called as the mastermind behind the Mauryan Empire. Chandragupta Maurya was born of Mura, a shudra woman in the court of the Nanda dynasty (according to Brahminical tradition ). However, according to Buddhist tradition, Chandragupta Maurya was a member of the Kshatriya clan known as Mauryas living in the region of Gorakhpur. In 321 BC, Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan empire. Chandra Gupta was a student of Kautilya who overthrew the Nanda dynasty on the wise counsel of his guru, Chanakya who became Prime Minister in his court.

Arthashastra: Chanakya’s Political and Economic Treatise

Chanakya’s Arthashastra, has 15 parts (or books), 180 divisions, 150 chapters and approximately 6,000 verses or shlokas. 

• Book 1: It has details related to  the King, his ministers and other officers.
• Book 2: Covers duties of the executive officers of the state. It also talks about the state’s role in activities like agriculture, mining/
• Book 3:  It had ideas related to law and administration.
• Book 4: Ideas related to controlling crimes.
• Book 5: Salaries to officials
• Book 6 and 7:State and foreign policy related information
• Book 8: Calamities that can hinder the functioning of state 
• Book 9: information related to war
• Book 10: Different modes of fighting
• Book 11: tackling oligarchies
• Book 12: how to overcome a weak king by a strong king.
• Book 13: to conquer enemy’s fort
• Book 14: Occult and secret practices
• Book 15: techniques and methodology used in Arthashastra.

Facts about Arthashastra

• In the 17th century, Dr R Shamasastry discovered the work of Arthashastra in 1905.He published the text in 1909 and its translation in 1915.
• Dr R P Kangle has also devoted his work on Arthashastra and published his work between 1960 and 1965.
• L N Rangarajan (1992) has also published a simpler and rearranged version of the Arthashastra.

Kautilya’s Arthashastra vs Dharmashastra

Before Kautilya, dharma (promoted by religion) dominated various aspects of life. Dharma was regulated by Dharmashastra. The other goals of life are artha (wealth), kama (desire) and moksha (emancipation of soul) were considered secondary. However, with Arthashastra, pursuit of artha became an end in itself while other three aims of life were secondary to it. Polity was separated from religion by Chanakya. Dharmashastra pertains to more social, moral and religious aspects while Arthashastra is more political and economic in nature.

Kautilya’s Views

On state:

• The idea is similar to the social contract theory of origin of state.
• Matsya Nyaya i.e law of nature, needs to be eradicated. Matsya Nyaya means a bigger fish always swallows the smaller fish.
• As in the state of anarchy, a weak is dominated by the powerful, so people will come together for peace and security and would choose Manu as king.
• The king would offer security to the people. The people in return would pay foodgrains and other goods including gold as tax .
• Chanakya’s Arthashastra could be used as a manual for vijigishu (one who wanted to conquer the whole Indian subcontinent). Such a king who wanted to conquer the whole Indian subcontinent was called chakravarti in later Buddhist texts.

On King:

• The divine origin of kinship was rejected by Kautilya.
• An ideal king should have the highest qualities of leadership, intellect, energy and personal attributes.
• Leadership qualities include birth in a noble family, discipline, enthusiasm, being stronger than neighbouring kings and having ministers of high quality.
• A king is intellectual when he has the desire to learn and listen to others and reject false claims.
• The king should be kind. He should be just in giving rewards and punishment.
• The king should be committed toward people’s welfare that guarantees popular support for his rule ensuring political stability.
• The king should protect his people from internal and external threats.
• The king should ensure universal and free education based on vedic tradition for his citizens.
• The king had to abandon six enemies – kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), mana (vanity), mada (haughtiness), and harsha (overjoy).

Janapada in Kautilya’s Arthashastra

• Janapada includes both, territory and population of the state.
• There should be prosperity among people and the territory should have fertile land mines, forests and water bodies etc.
• The economic base of Kautilyan state is the rural population. 
• Kautilya favours allotment of land to shudra peasants for cultivation. Shudra caste are main agriculturalists in Kautilya’s state who have their own land or are tenants.
• Kautilya gives equal importance to forest as it serves as habitats for elephants which are used for civilian and military purposes.
• According to Kautilya, a state should have have well-trained war elephants

Mitra in Kautilya’s Arthashastra

• A friend who has been the friend of the family over a long time, shares a common interest, can mobilise his army quickly, and who would double cross his friends is an ideal friend or an ally.
• Kautilya talks about external alliances for the state so that the state can focus on its internal development.

Aryabhatta: What Modern Astronomy Owes to Aryabhata

Early life

Aryabhatta was an ancient Indian astronomer and great mathematician. He lived in the Gupta period in and around  476 and 550 CE. He was born in Ashmaka in 476 CE. Not much is known about his personal life. All the historical records about the personal life of Aryabhata are sparse and limited.

The Aryabhatiya: India’s First Mathematical Astronomy Text

• Aryabhatta at the age of 23 wrote Aryabhatiya.  Aryabhatiya is a summary of mathematics of Aryabhatta’s time. 
• Aryabhatiya consist of section such as Daśagtikā (some essential parameters on decimal scale and discovery of zero, elements of trigonometry) and Gaṇita (eight fundamental operations, plane geometry, algebraical equations and their solutions).
• Aryabhatta invented a system of expressing numbers with the help of consonants and vowels, based again on the decimal place value principle.
• The symbol for zero was discovered by Āryabhaṭa I (born in A.D. 496) in connection to the decimal expression of numbers.
• He taught astronomy to his students that included Pandurangasvamin, Latadeva, and Nihsanka.
• Astronomy in ancient India was called Khagolshastra. Khagol was the famous astronomical observatory at Nalanda, where Aryabhatta studied. 
• Disregarding the popular view that our planet earth is ‘Achala’ (immovable), Aryabhatta
• stated his theory that ‘earth is round and rotates on its own axis’.
• He also claimed that the sun does not move from east to west. He also stated that the moon and other planets shine due to reflected light.
• Aryabhatta is also known to have established an observatory at the Sun temple, Taregana/Taregna (near Patna in present-day Bihar).
• Aryabhatta has also described various instruments related to astronomy i.e.
  • the gnomon (shanku-yantra)
  • both semicircular and circular angle-measuring devices (dhanur-yantra/ chakra-yantra)
  • an umbrella-shaped device (chhatra-yantra),
  •  bow-shaped as well as cylindrical water-clocks
• Birth of Trigonometry: Aryabhatta’s definition of sine (jya), cosine (kojya), versine (utkrama-jya) and inverse sine (otkram jya) has influenced the birth of trigonometry. His astronomical calculation method and trigonometric table were used in Islamic adaptations to figure out several Arabic astronomical tables (zijes) like the astronomical tables formulated by Al-Zarqali (11th century). 
• The calendar systems developed by Aryabhata and his successors have been consistently used in India for creating the Panchangam, or Hindu calendar, for practical applications.
• India’s first satellite Aryabhata and the lunar crater Aryabhata were named to honour this great Indian scientist.
• Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) as a centre for research and training in astrophysics, astronomy and atmospheric sciences was set up near Nainital (Uttarakhand) in his name. 

Brahmgupta

Brahmgupta was an Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived during the 6th and 7th centuries CE.Brahmagupta was born in 598 CE. He likely lived during the Gupta dynasty.   In his early days, he was the court astronomer to emperor Vyaghramukha.His contribution to mathematics has a unique position in Indian history. He was the head of Ujjain observatory. His interpretation in Geometry and number theory still surprises mathematicians today with their originality. Some of his contribution in mathematics:

• calculation of circum-radius of a triangle 
• lengths of the diagonals of a cyclic quadrilateral, 
• construction of a rational cyclic quadrilateral 
• integer solutions to a single second degree equation
• First to introduce zero as a digit.

His works: 

• Bahmasphutasiddhanta (theory of “the opening of the universe”) or simply the Siddhanta: Consist of 25 chapters and 1008 verses. It talks about theorizations and inferences on algebra, arithmetic, geometry and number theory. Its Arabic version is called sind Hind.
• Khandakhadyaka: It has 9 chapters that talk about astronomical calculations.

Bhaskaracharya

Born in 600CE. He was also a 7th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer. He resided in Vijjadveed. 

His works:

Siddhanta Shiromani: It has1450 verses and is divided into four parts: Lilawati, Beejaganit, Ganitadhyaya, and Goladhyaya. It has simple methods of arithmetic and astronomical calculations. Lilawati has been translated into many languages due to its simplicity. Lilawati has been written in poetic form.

Inferences drawn by him: 

• Earth is not flat.
• North and South poles of the earth have six months of day and six months of night
• Earth’s atmosphere extends to 96 kms. and is composed of seven sections.
• There is a vacuum Beyond the earth’s atmosphere

Varahamihira

Varahamihira was an Indian scientist from 6th century CE. He was born in Avanti to Adityadasa who was himself an astronomer. He was educated at Kapitthaka.  His area of expertise varied from  mathematics, surgery, medicine, to meteorology. He was a resident of Ujjayini. He was one of the nine who belonged to the Aulikara dynasty. According to the Mandsaur pillar inscription, he ruled the Indian subcontinent between c. 530-540 CE.  Varahamihira was known as Mihira. The name Varaha was added to his name by the  emperor Vikramaditya. His works include Brihat Samhita, Pancha Siddhantika, Vivahapatala, Laghujataka, Yatra.

His contributions: 

• In his book, Panchasiddhantika, he was the first to state that the ayanamsa (precession of the equinoxes) lasted for 50.32 seconds. Panchasiddhantika is a summary of five astronomical texts. They are Surya Siddhanta, Romaka Siddhanta,  Paulisa Siddhanta, Vasishtha Siddhanta, and Paitamaha Siddhanta.
• His book Brihat Samhita throws light upon various topics such as astronomy and astrology; planetary movements, eclipses and their effects; other natural phenomena; geography and botany; clouds, rainfall and growth of crops; manufacture of perfume and cosmetics; domestic relations and matrimony; architecture and iconography; gems and pearls; characteristics of Khadga (sword), Angavidya (knowledge of the limbs); auspicious and inauspicious characteristics of people and animal.
• His book Brihat Jataka is five main compositions on Hindu astrology. It is said that the Romaka Siddhanta (“Doctrine of the Romans”) and the Paulisa Siddhanta (“Doctrine of Paul”) – influenced his mind and intellect.

“Exploring Khajuraho Temples: Legacy of the Chandela Dynasty” 

During the Gupta period, idol worship started as a common feature of Hinduism. Shilpa Shastra (science of art and crafts) has all the descriptions related to art and architecture that is required for temple making. Shilpa Shastra talks about mainly three styles of temple making in India. They are Nagara in the north,  Dravida in the south and Vesar or mixed style temples.

The basic form of any hindu temple consist of:

• Garbhagriha: It is made for the main god of the temple. 
• Mandapa: The entrance of the temple, often designed as a portico or a hall lined with columns, serves as a spacious area to accommodate a large gathering of worshippers.
• Shikhar in North India and a pyramidal tower, called a vimana, in South India
• Vahan: a vehicle of the temple’s main deity along with a standard pillar.

Two broad categories of temples in India are known— Nagara in the north and Dravida in the south. Let’s read about them.

Khajuraho Temples

Historical Background

Khajuraho is an ancient city known for its historical temples. It is located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Khajuraho temples were built during the reign of Chandella dynasty (ruled the region in the 10th and 11th centuries CE).  The temple construction was treated as a royal obligation by the Chandela dynasty. Each ruler from the dynasty contributed to the tradition of temple making. Maharaja Rao Vidyadhara, is one of the famous Chandelas rulers. He defended against Mahmud of Ghazni’s invasions and was also known for his temple art and sculpture.

Architectural Style

Khajuraho temples belong to nagara school of architecture. The cravings at the temples are mostly of Hindu deities and mythologies. All the temples of Khajurahoo have been built in such a style that the face of the temple is towards the sunrise direction. The temples are built of sandstone. These sandstones were brought from Panna quarries, from the east bank of Kane river. The temples are built on raised platforms that are known as Jagati. The main structure of the temple, called the Jangha stands right above the Jagati. This is the body of the temple that houses the garbhagriha. The garbhagriha is crowned by shikhara. The temples are entered through an ardhamandapa,  which leads to the mandapa (main hall), through which one accesses the vestibule (antarala) before reaching the garbhagriha.

Khajurahoo temples are famous for their erotic images. Sculptures depicting the couples in union are found in the walls of temples.  The sculptures of heavenly nymphs with defined features such as broad hips, heavy breasts and eyes depicting emotions can be found in the walls of a  few khajurahoo temples. The themes of the sculptures draw inspiration from Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra. The sculptures depict the ideas of female fertility and beauty. Few themes depicted on the wall reflect the human life cycle i.e. signifying the sexual procreation and kama as essential aspects of human life. 

Sculptures of Khajurahoo temples have always been the main focus of study. Five different sets or themes of sculpture can be found on the walls of the temples. They are: 

• Cult images 
• The parivara, Parsava and Avarna Devetas
• The Apsaras and Surasundaris
• Secular sculptures of dancers, musicians, scenes from domestic life
• Mythical creatures

Khajurahoo temples are divided into three groups: Eastern, Western and Southern.

Eastern group of temples

Some very important temples are part of the eastern group of temples. They are:

Vamana Temple

This temple is dedicated to the fifth incarnation of lord Vishnu. Vamana is the fifth Vishnu Avatar and is also known as Trivikrama. The temple was built between 1050-1075 CE. There is a 5 feet high image of lord Vamana is found inside the garbhagriha .The temple is unique in the sense as it has very few erotic images. The temple also has the figures of incarnations of lord Visnua along with the figure of Lord Brahma in Bhumisparsha mudra.

Javari Temple

This temple was built around 1075 and 1100 AD. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and is known for its carved gateways and sculptures. Its beautifully carved Makara Torana arch is a fine example of the stone carving skills of the people of that era.

Parsvanatha Temple

The temple dates back to 954 AD. It is one of the Jain temples in Khajurahoo group of temples. It is believed to be the temple of 22nd Jain Trithankar Parsvanath. This temple was dedicated to Adinath but the idol was broken and then replaced with an image of Parsvanatha. On the left side of the door of the temple, a naked male figure is carved and on the right side of the door, a naked female figure is carved. 

The Western group of temples

This group includes temples of Lakshmana, Matangeshwara, Varaha, Kandariya Mahadev, Chitragupta, Parvati, Vishwanatha and Nandi. Let us read about a few of  them.

Chausath Yogini temple

This temple is dedicated to Yoginis and was constructed in the late 9th century AD. The temple is situated southwest of Shiva-Sagar Lake. This temple is unique in its own ways as most Yogini temples that are  found in India are circular in shape, but this one is rectangular in shape. This temple is built entirely on granite. The temple has 65 small cells, out of which one cell is dedicated to Goddess Kali and 64 are dedicated to yoginis. However, only 35 out of 65 cells have survived till date. There are no images on any of the cells.

Kandariya Mahadeva Temple

The temple is dedicated to lord Shiva. Since 1986, the Khajuraho temples, including Kandariya Mahadeva, have been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The temple stands high (117 feet ) above ground . The temple is  built in an area of approx 6500 square feet. The wall of the temple has a large number of images. The temple entrance is in the shape of an arch with decorative images of deities and musicians. Inside the garbhagriha,  there is marble Shivalinga (symbol of Lord Shiva). Above the garbhagriha, there is the main tower and spire. The temple follows a five-part design layout and showcases intricate craftsmanship and high-relief carvings.A Makar Toran could be found at the entrance of the garbhagriha. Here the toran is crafted out of stone with immaculate detailing and has been welcoming everyone since times immemorial.

Jagdamba Temple

This temple is dedicated to Devi Jagdama. Inside the garbhagriha, placed on a raised platform, stands a finely carved idol of Lord Vishnu. Alongside, a few elegant sculptures of sura-sundaris (celestial maidens) add to the artistic charm of the space.The temple is built around 10th or 11th century based on few inscriptions.

Vishwanath Temple 

This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva.The entrance of Garbhagriha has a figure of Lord Shiva seated on Nandi. There is also an image of Lord Brahma on his vehicle (Goose), Lord Vishnu on his vehicle ( eagle). There is a lingam inside the shrine and two sanskrit inscriptions engraved on stone slabs inside the mandapam. The inscription gives an account of Chandela kings from King Nannuka to  King Dhanga. The temple shares architectural similarities with  temples of Lakshmana and Kandariya Mahadev. 

Laxamana Temple

The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is also known as Chatturbhuj Temple. Laxaman temple was constructed during the reign of King Yashovarman of the Chandela dynasty. This temple is known for its architectural innovations like elegant torans,  majestic spires, intricate carvings, etc. The temple has a square sanctum surrounded by a pillared gallery designed for pradakshina. It follows the Panchayatana layout, with four smaller shrines placed at the corners around the main shrine. The entrance to garbhagriha has the image of goddess Laxami  and along with lord Brahma and Lord Shiva.