CHANAKYA

Chanakya (also known as Kautilya & Vishnugupta, c. 350-275

BCE) was an Indian statesman and philosopher, chief advisor and
Prime Minister of the Indian Emperor Chandragupta, the first
ruler of the Mauryan Empire. He was born in the Canaka village
of the Golla region (in Northern India), to a Brahmin named
Canin and his wife Canesvari. He was also a professor at the
University of Takshila (located in present day Pakistan) and was
an expert in commerce, warfare, economics, the Vedas etc. His
famous literary works include Chanakya Neeti, Arthashastra and
Neetishastra.
At the time of Kautilya, India was mostly composed of a number
of small independent states, with the exception of the Magadha
kingdom, a realm that controlled most of Northern India, which was ruled by the Nanda
dynasty. The fame of Kautilya is owed to the important role he played in the fall of the
Magadha kingdom and the rise to power of the Mauryan dynasty. In order to accomplish this,
he became an ally and loyal servant of Chandragupta. Before he became Chandraguptas ally,
Kautilya was introduced to the Nanda king, who insulted him. Kautilya untied his sikha (lock of
hair on male Hindus), and swore he would only tie it back once the Nanda dynasty was
destroyed. Kautilya and Chandragupta raised a small army that lacked sufficient military
strength to take the Magadha throne directly. Therefore, Kautilyas cunning strategies became
useful: Chandragupta entered the capital of the Magadha kingdom, Pataliputra, where he
triggered a civil war using Kautilyas intelligence network. In 322 BCE Chandragupta finally
seized the throne putting an end to the Nanda dynasty and he established the Mauryan dynasty
which would rule India until 185 BCE. Kautilya helped Chandragupta to turn the Mauryan
Empire into one of the most powerful governments at that time.
The political thoughts of Kautilya are summarized in a book he wrote known as the
Arthashastra, a Sanskrit name which is translated as The Science of Material Gain. Diplomacy
and war are the two points treated in greater detail than any other and it also includes
recommendations on law, prisons, taxation, fortifications, coinage, manufacturing, trade,
administrations, and spies.
Neetishastra is a treatise on the ideal way of life and shows Chanakya's deep study of the Indian
way of life. Chanakya also developed Neeti-Sutras that tell people how they should behave. Of
these well-known 455 sutras, about 216 refer to raja-neeti (the do's and donts of running a
kingdom).
How Kautilya died is not entirely clear. Some accounts say he starved himself to death, a
common practice in Jainism. Other versions say he died as a result of a court conspiracy.
THIRUVALLUVAR
About two thousand years ago there flourished in Mylapore, Madras,
a born Siddha and a born poet by name Valluvar or, as he is more
commonly known, Thiruvalluvar, which means, the devotee of the
Valluva caste. Valluvas are Pariahs (now called Harijans) and their
vocation was proclaiming the orders of the king by beat of drum.
There is a tradition that Thiruvalluvar was the son of one Bhagavan, a
Brahmin, and Adi, a Pariah woman whom he had married.
Thiruvalluvar was born at Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas. He is
regarded as an Avatara of Brahma. His wife Vasuki was a chaste and
devoted lady, an ideal wife, who never disobeyed the orders of her
husband, but always carried them out implicitly. Thiruvalluvar showed people that a person
could lead the life of a Grihastha or householder, and at the same time, lead a divine life or a
life of purity and sanctity. All his wise sayings and teachings are now in book form and known as
Thirukkural. It is a combined word formed by joining the two words Thiru (meaning revered)
and Kural (a form of poem writing). It is divided into three sections: section one deals with
Aram, good ethical behavior with conscience and honor ("right conduct"); section two discusses
Porul, the right manner of conducting worldly affairs; and section three dwells on Inbam, love
between men and women. It contains a total of 133 chapters & 1330 couplets. Although two
sections, Aram and Inbam, are devoted to the private life of an individual more than half the
couplets in Thirukural are grouped under Porul which discusses ethics in public life. Thus
Thiruvalluvar gives more importance to righteous living in public life. Here are some of them:
Just as the alphabet A is the beginning of all letters, so also, God is the beginning for this
universe.
Learn the Shastras completely and then act according to their injunctions.
The Anicha flower will fade by smelling, but guests are more sensitive if the hosts turn their
faces a bit.
Death is like sleeping in the burial ground; birth is like waking in the
morning.
There is a 133-foot (denoting the 133 chapters in the Thirukkural) tall
statue of Thiruvalluvar erected at Kanyakumari at the southern tip of
the Indian subcontinent, where the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal,
and the Indian Ocean converge. Tamil Nadu celebrates the 15
th
of
January as Thiruvalluvar Day as part of the Pongal celebrations in his
honor.
ISHWAR CHANDRA VIDYASAGAR
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar is considered as one of the pillars of
Bengal renaissance. He managed to continue and build upon the
reforms movement that was started by Raja Rammohan Roy.
Vidyasagar was a well-known writer, intellectual and above all a
staunch follower of humanity. He brought a revolution in the
education system of Bengal. In his book, "Barno-Porichoy"
(Introduction to the letter), Vidyasagar refined the Bengali language
and made it accessible to the common strata of the society. The
title 'Vidyasagar' (ocean of knowledge) was given to him due to his
vast knowledge in almost all the subjects, specifically Sanskrit
studies & philosophy. Poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta while
writing about Ishwar Chandra said: "The genius and wisdom of an ancient sage, the energy of
an Englishman and the heart of a Bengali mother".
He was born as Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhaya at Birsingha village in Midnapur, West Bengal on
September 26, 1820 as the son of poor Brahmin parents, Thakurdas Banerjee and Bhagabati
Devi. He got the iron discipline of the father; the large-hearted charity of the mother. The boy
was not only remarkably intelligent but full of determination. From 1829 to 1841, Ishwar
Chandra studied Vedanta, Vyakaran, Literature, Rhetoric, Smriti and Ethics in Sanskrit College.
He was appointed as the Head Pandit of the Fort William College on 29th December, 1841.
Soon he learnt English and Hindi. In 1846, Vidyasagar was employed to grace the chair of the
assistant secretary of the Sanskrit College. Although a Sanskrit scholar he had a remarkable
proficiency in English and very few people could recite Shakespeare like him. In 1851,
Vidyasagar became a professor and later on the Principal of the Sanskrit College.
His contribution in the field of education, particularly modern education and womens
education is great. No parallel could be found to match the manly kindness with which
Vidyasagar carried on a life-long crusade against polygamy, child marriage and a campaign for
widow-marriage. Vidyasagar invented Bengali prose through translation as well as own
writings. His Shakuntala is a facile prose translation of Kalidas. He also opened the doors of the
colleges and other educational institutions to lower caste students, which was earlier reserved
only for the Brahmins. He founded the Metropolitan (now Vidyasagar) College in Kolkata. He
was also a member of the Senate of the then newly founded University of Calcutta. For his
immense generosity and kind-heartedness, people started addressing him as "Dayar Sagar"
(ocean of kindness).
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the great scholar, academician and reformer passed away on July
29, 1891 at the age of 70 years. After his death Rabindranath Tagore said, "One wonders how
God, in the process of producing forty million Bengalis, produced a man!
RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY
Raja Ram Mohan Roy is known as the 'Maker of Modern India'. He was
the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, one of the first Indian socio-religious
reform movements. He played a major role in abolishing the practice of
Sati. Raja Rammohan Roy was a great scholar and an independent
thinker. He advocated the study of English, Science, Western Medicine
and Technology. He was given the title 'Raja' by the Mughal Emperor.
He was born on May 22, 1772 in the village of Radhanagar in the
District of Hooghly in Bengal. His father Ramkanto Roy, was a
Vaishnavite, while his mother, Tarini, was from a Shakta background.
Raja Ram Mohun Roy was sent to Patna for higher studies. By the age
of fifteen, he had learnt Bangla, Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was against idol worship and orthodox Hindu rituals. He stood firmly
against all sort of social bigotry, conservatism and superstitions. But his father was an orthodox
Hindu Brahmin. This led to differences between Raja Ram Mohan Roy and his father. Following
differences he left the house. He wandered around Himalayas and went to Tibet. He traveled
widely before returning home.
After his return, Raja Ram Mohan Roy's family married him in the hope that he would change.
But this did not have any effect on him. He went to Varanasi and studied the Vedas, the
Upanishads and Hindu philosophy deeply. When his father died in 1803 he returned to
Murshidabad. He then worked as a moneylender in Calcutta, and from 1809 to 1814, he served
in the Revenue Department of the East India Company.
In 1814, Raja Ram Mohan Roy formed the Atmiya Sabha. Atmiya Sabha tried to initiate social
and religious reforms in the society. Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned for rights for women,
including the right for widows to remarry, and the right for women to hold property. He actively
opposed the Sati system and the practice of polygamy.
He also supported education, particularly education of women. He believed that English-
language education was superior to the traditional Indian education system, and he opposed
the use of government funds to support schools teaching Sanskrit. In 1822, he founded a school
based on English education.
In 1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahma Samaj. He wanted to expose the religious
hypocrisies and check the growing influence of Christianity on the Hindu society through it. Raja
Ram Mohan Roy's efforts bore fruit when in 1829, the Sati system was abolished. In November
1830 Ram Mohan Roy traveled to the United Kingdom as an ambassador of the Mughal
emperor to plead for his pension and allowances. Raja Ram Mohan Roy passed away on
September 27, 1833 at Stapleton near Bristol due to meningitis.
MAHADEV GOVIND RANADE
Mahadev Govind Ranade was born into a strictly orthodox
Chitapavan Brahmin household in Niphad, Maharashtra on January
18, 1842. He was a serious student, distinguished by his originality,
and begged his father to be sent to Bombay to complete his English
education. At age fourteen he enrolled in the Elphinstone institute.
Three years later he was in the first batch of students to join
the Bombay University. He became a teacher of economics and
later of history and literature.
However, he preferred a career in law. Before the age of thirty he
received his first appointment as a subordinate judge in the courts at Pune. During his career as
a judge, he worked firmly towards the reform of social evils such as caste system and
untouchability, child marriage, the seclusion of widowed women and tried to introduce the
remarriage of widows. Ranade believed that unless social reforms were achieved, there could
be no real economic or political progress. His method for the conduct of the nationalist
movement was unique. He wanted the people to first remove their own inherent defects and
when that was achieved, he felt the movement would become so forceful as to make the
continuance of the British rule impossible. The central thesis of Ranade was that we should
introduce reform in such a way that no violence was done to ancient customs and traditions.
He was one of the first members of the Prarthana Samaj, founded in 1867, following Keshab
Chandra Sen's visits to Bombay. Under his guidance the Samaj engaged in a campaign of
reformation without alienating the more orthodox elements of the society.
His judgeship precluded Ranade from actively entering politics. As a result, his contribution to
the nationalist movement came largely through his reformist campaigns. In 1871 he was
appointed successively as Third Presidency Magistrate, Fourth Judge of the Small Causes Court
and Acting First Class Grade Judge at Poona.In 1887 he founded the Indian National Social
Conference, whose meetings were concurrent with the annual Congress sessions. In 1890 he
inaugurated the Industrial Association of Western India, having come to the conclusion that a
constructive solution to India's problems lay in a vigorous policy of industrial and commercial
development. In 1893 he was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Bombay. He held this
position until his death. He was a founder member of the Indian National Congress and his
influence was all pervasive.
He maintained contact, in person or through correspondence, with numerous younger men,
whom he inspired to greater patriotic endeavor. After his death in Pune on January 16, 1901,
his writings continued to inspire other leaders of Western India, notably Gokhale and Gandhi.
A reformer, lover of justice, believer of equality among all, in the words of Sir Pherozshah
Mehta, he was a modern rishi.
SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHANSA
On 18 February, 1836, a child was born at Kamarpukur near
Calcutta, in Bengal. This divine child was destined to return to
Hinduism the glory it had enjoyed before the foreign conquest of
India. The child was named Gadadhar. He later grew to become Sri
Ramakrishna, who was described by Romain Rolland as "the
perfection of two thousand years of the spiritual life of three
hundred million people".

As a child, Sri Ramakrishna showed wonderful qualities of purity and
love. He loved the company of Sadhus. When he was nineteen, his
elder brother, Ramkumar, appointed him priest of the Kali temple at
Dakshineshwar. It was the duty of the young priest to dress and decorate the image of the
Divine Mother, Kali. His love for the Mother began to grow beyond all bounds. To him, She
alone was real and the world became a mere shadow. He poured his soul into his daily worship,
and longed to obtain a vision of the Mother of the universe.

Sri Ramakrishna was unique in every respect. He explored each of the world's great religions
and found that he could have the vision of God by following any one of their paths. He could
neither read nor write, yet he soon knew the basic teachings of all the sects of Hinduism. When
a Sufi taught him about Islam, Sri Ramakrishna lived the life of a devout Muslim and soon had
the vision of Prophet Mohammed. Not long afterwards, he was attracted to the life and
teachings of Jesus Christ. Soon he had the vision of Jesus also, and another of Mother Mary and
the holy child. In the same manner he had a vision of Lord Buddha.

When Sri Ramakrishna was twenty-three, he selected as his bride, Sarada Devi, who was then
five years old. But the couple never led a householder's life. The marvelous girl, who was
herself a great soul, later became the Holy Mother, showering her Grace and blessings on the
thousands who eagerly flocked to her for solace and comfort.

Sri Ramakrishna taught the world that God can be realized through all religions. This great truth
came to him through his direct spiritual experience. A great part of Sri Ramakrishna's life was
spent in training his disciples, among whom Swami Vivekananda stood foremost. Swami
Brahmananda, Swami Shivananda and Swami Saradananda were some of his other well-known
disciples who expanded and spread his mission far and wide.

Sri Ramakrishna left his physical body in the year 1886, after suffering for some time from
throat cancer. His teachings, given by means of many stories and parables, are today read by
almost every spiritual aspirant treading the path of Yoga. His spiritual impact on India and the
world has been tremendous.

Mahatma Gandhi said in a tribute to this great soul: "The story of Sri Ramakrishna's life is a
story of religion in practice. His life enables us to see God face to face. Sri Ramakrishna was a
living image of Godliness. His sayings are not those of a mere learned man but they are pages
taken from the book of life."
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
Swami Vivekananda, known in his pre-monastic life
as Narendranath Datta, was born in an affluent family
in Kolkata on 12 January 1863. His father, Vishwanath Datta,
was a successful attorney with interests in a wide range of
subjects, and his mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was
endowed with deep devotion, strong character and other
qualities. A precocious boy, Narendra excelled in music,
gymnastics and studies. By the time he graduated from
Calcutta University, he had acquired a vast knowledge of
different subjects, especially Western philosophy and
history. Born with a yogic temperament, he used to practise
meditation even from his boyhood, and was associated with
Brahmo Movement for some time.

With Sri Ramakrishna
At the threshold of youth Narendra had to pass through a period of spiritual crisis when he was
assailed by doubts about the existence of God. It was at that time he first heard about Sri
Ramakrishna from one of his English professors at college. One day in November 1881,
Narendra went to meet Sri Ramakrishna who was staying at the Kali Temple in Dakshineshwar.
He straightaway asked the Master a question which he had put to several others but had
received no satisfactory answer: Sir, have you seen God? Without a moments hesitation, Sri
Ramakrishna replied: Yes, I have. I see Him as clearly as I see you, only in a much intenser
sense.
Apart from removing doubts from the mind of Narendra, Sri Ramakrishna won him over
through his pure, unselfish love. Thus began a guru-disciple relationship which is quite unique
in the history of spiritual masters. Narendra now became a frequent visitor to Dakshineshwar
and, under the guidance of the Master, made rapid strides on the spiritual path. At
Dakshineshwar, Narendra also met several young men who were devoted to Sri Ramakrishna,
and they all became close friends.

Difficult Situations
After a few years two events took place which caused Narendra considerable distress. One was
the sudden death of his father in 1884. This left the family penniless, and Narendra had to bear
the burden of supporting his mother, brothers and sisters. The second event was the illness of
Sri Ramakrishna which was diagnosed to be cancer of the throat. In September 1885 Sri
Ramakrishna was moved to a house at Shyampukur, and a few months later to a rented villa
at Cossipore. In these two places the young disciples nursed the Master with devoted care. In
spite of poverty at home and inability to find a job for himself, Narendra joined the group as its
leader.

Beginnings of a Monastic Brotherhood
Sri Ramakrishna instilled in these young men the spirit of renunciation
and brotherly love for one another. One day he distributed ochre robes
among them and sent them out to beg food. In this way he himself laid
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
the foundation for a new monastic order. He gave specific instructions to Narendra about the
formation of the new monastic Order. In the small hours of 16 August 1886 Sri Ramakrishna
gave up his mortal body.
After the Masters passing, fifteen of his young disciples (one more joined them later) began to
live together in a dilapidated building at Baranagar in North Kolkata. Under the leadership of
Narendra, they formed a new monastic brotherhood, and in 1887 they took the formal vows of
sannyasa, thereby assuming new names. Narendra now became Swami Vivekananda (although
this name was actually assumed much later.)

Awareness of Lifes Mission
After establishing the new monastic order,
Vivekananda heard the inner call for a greater
mission in his life. While most of the followers of
Sri Ramakrishna thought of him in relation to their
own personal lives, Vivekananda thought of the Master in relation to India and the rest of the
world. As the prophet of the present age, what was Sri Ramakrishnas message to the modern
world and to India in particular? This question and the awareness of his own inherent powers
urged Swamiji to go out alone into the wide world. So in the middle of 1890, after receiving the
blessings of Sri Sarada Devi, the divine consort of Sri Ramakrishna, known to the world as Holy
Mother, who was then staying in Kolkata, Swamiji left Baranagar Math and embarked on a long
journey of exploration and discovery of India.

Discovery of Real India
During his travels all over India, Swami Vivekananda was deeply
moved to see the appalling poverty and backwardness of the masses.
He was the first religious leader in India to understand and openly
declare that the real cause of Indias downfall was the neglect of the
masses. The immediate need was to provide food and other bare
necessities of life to the hungry millions. For this they should be
taught improved methods of agriculture, village industries, etc. It was
in this context that Vivekananda grasped the crux of the problem of
poverty in India (which had escaped the attention of social reformers
of his days): owing to centuries of oppression, the downtrodden
masses had lost faith in their capacity to improve their lot. It was first
of all necessary to infuse into their minds faith in themselves. For this
they needed a life-giving, inspiring message. Swamiji found this
message in the principle of the Atman, the doctrine of the potential
divinity of the soul, taught in Vedanta, the ancient system of religious philosophy of India. He
saw that, in spite of poverty, the masses clung to religion, but they had never been taught the
life-giving, ennobling principles of Vedanta and how to apply them in practical life.
Thus the masses needed two kinds of knowledge: secular knowledge to improve their economic
condition, and spiritual knowledge to infuse in them faith in themselves and strengthen their
moral sense. The next question was, how to spread these two kinds of knowledge among the
masses? Through education this was the answer that Swamiji found.
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

Need for an Organization
One thing became clear to Swamiji: to carry out his plans for the spread of education and for
the uplift of the poor masses, and also of women, an efficient organization of dedicated people
was needed. As he said later on, he wanted to set in motion a machinery which will bring
noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest. It was to serve as this
machinery that Swamiji founded the Ramakrishna Mission a few years later.

Decision to attend the Parliament of Religions
It was when these ideas were taking shape in his mind in the course of
his wanderings that Swami Vivekananda heard about the Worlds
Parliament of Religions to be held in Chicago in 1893. His friends and
admirers in India wanted him to attend the Parliament. He too felt that
the Parliament would provide the right forum to present his Masters
message to the world, and so he decided to go to America. Another
reason which prompted Swamiji to go to America was to seek financial
help for his project of uplifting the masses.
Swamiji, however, wanted to have an inner certitude and divine call
regarding his mission. Both of these he got while he sat in deep
meditation on the rock-island at Kanyakumari. With the funds partly
collected by his Chennai disciples and partly provided by the Raja of
Khetri, Swami Vivekananda left for America from Mumbai on 31 May 1893.


The Parliament of Religions and After
His speeches at the Worlds Parliament of Religions held in September
1893 made him famous as an orator by divine right and as a
Messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western world. After the
Parliament, Swamiji spent nearly three and a half years spreading
Vedanta as lived and taught by Sri Ramakrishna, mostly in
the eastern parts of USA and also in London.

Awakening His Countrymen
He returned to India in January 1897. In response to the enthusiastic welcome that he received
everywhere, he delivered a series of lectures in different parts of India, which created a great
stir all over the country. Through these inspiring and profoundly significant lectures Swamiji
attempted to do the following:

to rouse the religious consciousness of the people and create in them pride in their cultural
heritage;
to bring about unification of Hinduism by pointing out the common bases of its sects;
to focus the attention of educated people on the plight of the downtrodden masses, and to
expound his plan for their uplift by the application of the principles of Practical Vedanta.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
Founding of Ramakrishna Mission
Soon after his return to Kolkata, Swami Vivekananda accomplished another important task of
his mission on earth. He founded on1 May 1897 a unique type of organization known as
Ramakrishna Mission, in which monks and lay people would jointly undertake propagation of
Practical Vedanta, and various forms of social service, such as running hospitals, schools,
colleges, hostels, rural development centres etc, and conducting massive relief and
rehabilitation work for victims of earthquakes, cyclones and other calamities, in different parts
of India and other countries.

Belur Math
In early 1898 Swami Vivekananda acquired a big plot of land on the western bank of the Ganga
at a place called Belur to have a permanent abode for the monastery and monastic Order
originally started at Baranagar, and got it registered as Ramakrishna Math after a couple of
years. Here Swamiji established a new, universal pattern of monastic life which adapts ancient
monastic ideals to the conditions of modern life, which gives equal importance to personal
illumination and social service, and which is open to all men without any distinction of religion,
race or caste.

Disciples
It may be mentioned here that in the West many people were influenced by Swami
Vivekanandas life and message. Some of them became his disciples or devoted friends. Among
them the names of Margaret Noble (later known as Sister Nivedita),Captain and Mrs
Sevier, Josephine McLeod and Sara Ole Bull, deserve special mention. Nivedita dedicated her
life to educating girls in Kolkata. Swamiji had many Indian disciples also, some of whom joined
Ramakrishna Math and became sannyasins.

Last Days
In June 1899 he went to the West on a second visit. This time he spent most of his time in the
West coast of USA. After delivering many lectures there, he returned to Belur Math in
December 1900. The rest of his life was spent in India, inspiring and guiding people, both
monastic and lay. Incessant work, especially giving lectures and inspiring people, told upon
Swamijis health. His health deteriorated and the end came quietly on the night of 4 July 1902.
Before his Mahasamadhi he had written to a Western follower: It may be that I shall find it
good to get outside my body, to cast it off like a worn out garment. But I shall not cease to
work. I shall inspire men everywhere until the whole world shall know that it is one with God.