Kautilya’s Arthashastra on Personal Wealth Creation
A significant amount of people invest their energy today in building their careers, and organizations, in the hope to achieve a financially secure future. Starting from their schooling, college education until professional skill development, they invest heavily to achieve this end. And yet their lives are marred by insecurities and they often live overwhelmed by stress and anxieties. All the promises of “great jobs” of academia and “a promising future” of the employers tend to fall short and they eventually succumb to ideas such as “Life is unfair” and that “Financial security is a mirage.” But, will that be an accurate assessment? Is there no way to earn financial security? Are they destined to suffer for want of adequate financial income? Such thoughts often end up yielding a sense of hopelessness, which in turn makes way for chaos in. They even doom people into thinking that things are “beyond reproach.”
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Chanakya & Six Principles of Vedic Management
Chanakya was not a vengeful person, nor a ruthless and blood thirsty conspirator as it is wrongly believed. He wasn’t even “Prime Minister” of the Mauryan empire under Chandragupta Maurya. He was a wise sage who arduously studied, respected and followed the teachings and wisdom of the Vedas all his life. And the Vedas don’t endorse unwise qualities like vengeance. They are shunned beyond doubt.
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The Qualities of an Undeserving Leader according to Chanakya a.k.a. Kautilya
राज्य (Rajya) in Vedic Sanskrit means Administration. A great many translators of Kautilya’s Arthashastra have translated it as Nation-State, State, Country, etc. Kautilya a.k.a. Chanakya also uses a word called राज्यनर्ह: Rajyanarha. And because Rajya is misunderstood as Nation-State and Anarha mean Unworthy, Rajyanarha is often misunderstood as an individual unworthy of the state or citizenship. The correct translation of Rajyanarha, therefore, is a person unworthy of administration, power or Leadership. And according to Kautilya the following ten are unmistakable qualities of an individual unworthy of power:
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15 Qualities of an Ideal Leader According to Kautilya a.k.a. Chanakya
This article recollects the qualities of an ideal leader according to Kautilya aka Chanakya which could be relevant even to this day in any organization, be that political, social or economic.
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What is Artha? Why is it important?
By Dipika Mehra Most people translate Vedic Sanskrit word Artha as Wealth. And Wealth for the majority of people around the world implies material possession and currency. This is by far a very narrow definition of Wealth. Artha essentially signifies abundance, which is not limited to currency alone. Besides, Artha …
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Chanakya a.k.a. Kautilya on People and Trust
When the mind is objective, untouched by fear or uncertainties, that is mind you can trust. And with such a trustful mind, you will be able to assess your friends, enemies and, even, create a fighting plan to get out of any situation. Writes U Mahesh Prabhu...
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Moles and Mentors: Utility of the saffron-clad in ancient Vedic India
Chanakya devised an advanced system of human intelligence-gathering in which operatives wore saffron to deceive the masses. There were instances when, before sending in the army to raid a village, for example, these pseudo-renunciates were sent first to make a prophecy of doom to create chaos in the minds of the people and the enemy army. Often, such strategies were wonderfully effective since they resulted in surrender without a fight – saving countless innocent lives. Great care was taken to ensure that these saffron-clad people never went rogue, and were closely watched. These saffron-clad spies proved to be an effective weapon in the game of psychological warfare.
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