Interesting Facts About the Great Chanakya

Chanakya was an ancient Indian teacher, philosopher, economist, jurist and royal advisor. He is traditionally known as Kauṭilya or Vishnugupta, who authored the ancient Indian political treatise, the Arthashastra. It is believed that the real name of Chanakya was Vishnugupta and he was a minister at the court of Dhana.

Chanakya is one of the earliest very cunning and shrewd economists of ancient India. Ashwin Sangi mentioned that Chanakya was responsible for uniting entire nation when India was attacked by Alexander the Great, in his book on Chanakya known as ‘Chanakya’s Chant’. According to many historians, Chanakya was born in 350 BCE with a very manipulative nature that helped in the formation of Maurya Dynasty – one of the largest dynasties ever known in ancient India. Many legends stated that Chanakya actually used to maintain an army of females who were known as Vishakanyas. They also claimed that Vishakanyas were extremely beautiful girls who were given small doses of poisons every day along with food. Yes, you read it right Poison because of which, the girls grew resistant to any kind of poisoning. Above this it is also believed that the girls were given poison until they reached puberty and then they were used for secret assassination mission. According to the legends, the poison effect and impact was so high fed to the girls made them so deadly that even their kisses could easily kill a person. However, Chanakya never had great views on women which might have been accepted in ancient times but in today’s era, these views are considered to be really sickening and disgusting. He also believed that one cannot trust women due to their corrupt and vile nature. Another fact about Chanakya is that the only way for a woman to attain purity is if she would drink the water that has been used for cleansing or washing the feet of her husband. A woman, according to him can never attain such purity by drinking holy water or observing fasts or even offering charity. Hard to believe but this is true. Talking about Chanakya’s views on being an ideal wife were a bit unrealistic and twisted. According to him, an ideal wife should wake up early in the morning and should be serving her husband exactly like a mother serves her son. As the noon time arrives, she should be ‘loving and caring’ towards her husband like a sister does to her brother. Unbelievable part is that he also felt that during the night an ideal wife should be able to please her husband the way a prostitute please a man. No wonder it is hard to believe all these views in today’s time and do not really sound realistic in today’s world. These are considered to be unpleasant and crippled thoughts. It is also said that Chanakya was very intelligent man that he had a solution to every problem that came up to him. It is also said that besides being a pioneer economist and a politician, he even achieved the knowledge of astronomy and medicine. Legends also say that Chanakya was not really satisfied with the strategies used by Dhana Nanda to rule the empire due to which the Greeks were able to reach India’s western border. Since India was being threatened by foreign invasion, Chanakya had a word with Dhana Nanda to look back on his strategies. Dhana Nanda insulted him and the hurt Chanakya then untied his lock of hair known as Sikha and swore that he will not rest until the Nanda Kingdom is destroyed. He came across Chandragupta Maurya while searching for an ideal king. He mentored Chandragupta who later destroyed the Nanda Kingdom and established the Maurya Dynasty. Chanakya was responsible for the administration of the entire kingdom and knew if the king is killed, the killer becomes the next King. Since then, the smart Chanakya ensured that Chandragupta Maurya stayed alive.

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://factslegend.org/30-interesting-surprising-chanakya-facts/