Page 21 - Sri Canakya Niti

Preface to the First Edition

Pandit engineered the swift demise for the degraded and worthless
rulers of the Nanda clan that this great brahmana was able to tie up
his brahminical tuft of hair. There are several versions relating to the
exact way that Chanakya set about eliminating the Nandas, and it

appears historians have found it difficult to separate fact from legend
as regards to specifi c details.
After the Nanda downfall, it became easy for Chandragupta Maurya
to win the support of the citizens of Magadha, who resounded warmly
to their new heroic young ruler. Kings of neighboring states rallied
under Chandragupta’s suzerainty, and the last of the Greeks headed
by Alexander’s general Seleucus were defeated.
With the dual obstacles of the Nandas and Alexander’s troops out
of the way, Chanakya Pandit used every political device and court
intrigue to unite the greater portion of the Indian sub-continent.
Under the ministry of Chanakya, Chandragupta Maurya conquered
all the lands up to Persia in the Northwest and down to the extremities
of present-day Karnataka or Mysore in the south. It was by his wits
alone that this skinny and ill-clad brahmana directed the formation of
the greatest Indian empire ever before in history, since the beginning
of Kali Yuga. Thus the indigenous Vedic culture and civilization of
the sacred land of Bharata was protected and its spiritual practices
remained unhampered.

Although the great pandits of niti—including Brihaspati,
Shukracharya, Bhartrihari and Vishnusharma—have echoed many of
these instructions in their own celebrated works; it is undoubtedly
2
the way that Chanakya applied his teachings of niti that has made him
stand out as a signifi cant historical fi gure. The pandit teaches us that
lofty ideals can become certain reality if we diligently work towards
achieving our goals in a determined and practical manner, keeping in
mind the instructions of the preceptor.

2. Brihaspati Niti Sara (“Cream of Niti”) of the Garuda Purana, Shukra
Niti, Niti Shataka, and Panchatantra, respectively.

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