Chanakya • Hacker News Board

Re: Chanakya

#11

Post by abhayhegde » Sat, Sep 05, 2020, 6:09 PM UTC

captn3m0 wrote: post #3

voldacar wrote: post #2

The arthashastra is brilliant. Much older and far more Machiavellian than Machiavelli. Highly recommended if you are interested in ancient thought

Also far more misogynistic.

I believe in seperating people from their brilliant works. Appreciating their work/thoughts does not necessarily mean condoning their behavior. One should never accept or propagate inappropriate social cues. However, that does not mean one should lose an opportunity to be wiser by reading and assimilating thier wisdom.

As such nobody is perfect and who ever it may be, let us pick the positive qualities from them, on our way towards becoming a nicer person.

Re: Chanakya

#12

Post by actuator » Sat, Sep 05, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

Other than his works, he was the prime minister in Maurya empire, credited with its rise. Maurya empire is considered to be one of the greatest Indian empires along with Guptas(known for progress in science, medicine) and Cholas(mercantile empire crossing oceans). It spread west upto present day Afghanistan at its peak. Maurya king Ashoka is quite famous because of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka#Kalinga_war_and_convers...

Re: Chanakya

#13

Post by actuator » Sat, Sep 05, 2020, 6:21 PM UTC

voldacar wrote: post #2

The arthashastra is brilliant. Much older and far more Machiavellian than Machiavelli. Highly recommended if you are interested in ancient thought

Is the english translation good enough or reading it in Sanskrit is recommended? If yes, any translation that you recommend?

Re: Chanakya

#14

Post by humility » Sat, Sep 05, 2020, 6:32 PM UTC

actuator wrote: post #12

Other than his works, he was the prime minister in Maurya empire, credited with its rise. Maurya empire is considered to be one of the greatest Indian empires along with Guptas(known for progress in science, medicine) and Cholas(mercantile empire crossing oceans). It spread west upto present day Afghanistan at its peak. Maurya king Ashoka is quite famous because of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka#Kalinga_w…

Interestingly enough he became politically active after India's defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great, and aided in creating an empire that unified the whole of India, which was unprecedented until then.

Re: Chanakya

#15

Post by actuator » Sat, Sep 05, 2020, 6:42 PM UTC

humility wrote: post #14

actuator wrote: post #12

Other than his works, he was the prime minister in Maurya empire, credited with its rise. Maurya empire is considered to be one of the greatest Indian empires along with Guptas(known for progress in science, medicine) and Cholas(mercantile empire crossing oceans). It spread west upto present day Afghanistan at its peak. Maurya king Ashoka is quite famous because of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka#Kalinga_w…

Interestingly enough he became politically active after India's defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great, and aided in creating an empire that unified the whole of India, which was unprecedented until then.

Is there any recommended reading you have on this? In general, all the foreign conquests that succeeded in India even later were when it was fragmented into smaller kingdoms.

Re: Chanakya

#16

Post by scriptdevil » Sat, Sep 05, 2020, 6:53 PM UTC

humility wrote: post #14

actuator wrote: post #12

Other than his works, he was the prime minister in Maurya empire, credited with its rise. Maurya empire is considered to be one of the greatest Indian empires along with Guptas(known for progress in science, medicine) and Cholas(mercantile empire crossing oceans). It spread west upto present day Afghanistan at its peak. Maurya king Ashoka is quite famous because of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka#Kalinga_w…

Interestingly enough he became politically active after India's defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great, and aided in creating an empire that unified the whole of India, which was unprecedented until then.

I don't know why everyone always says someone or the other united all of India - they always ignore Kerala and Tamil Nadu (and often parts of Andhra Pradesh) which were neither a part of the Maurya empire - nor a part of the Mughal empire.

Re: Chanakya

#17

Post by ViralBShah » Sat, Sep 05, 2020, 6:55 PM UTC

actuator wrote: post #15

humility wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly enough he became politically active after India's defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great, and aided in creating an empire that unified the whole of India, which was unprecedented until then.

Is there any recommended reading you have on this? In general, all the foreign conquests that succeeded in India even later were when it was fragmented into smaller kingdoms.

I'll highly recommend "Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor". https://www.amazon.com/Ashoka-Search-Indias-Lost-Emperor/dp/...

Not so much about Chanakya, but about that period in India, and describes in depth how the history was pieced together.

Re: Chanakya

#18

Post by muststopmyths » Sat, Sep 05, 2020, 6:55 PM UTC

actuator wrote: post #15

humility wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly enough he became politically active after India's defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great, and aided in creating an empire that unified the whole of India, which was unprecedented until then.

Is there any recommended reading you have on this? In general, all the foreign conquests that succeeded in India even later were when it was fragmented into smaller kingdoms.

Probably doesn't exist, since "India's defeat at the hands of Alexander" never happened.

He barely made it to the border of the largest empire in contemporary India, by geography. Even the parts of current Pakistan he conquered were nowhere near major powers in the subcontinent.

That was as far as he got before his army rebelled and forced him to abandon further conquest.

Re: Chanakya

#19

Post by actuator » Sat, Sep 05, 2020, 7:04 PM UTC

scriptdevil wrote: post #16

humility wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly enough he became politically active after India's defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great, and aided in creating an empire that unified the whole of India, which was unprecedented until then.

I don't know why everyone always says someone or the other united all of India - they always ignore Kerala and Tamil Nadu (and often parts of Andhra Pradesh) which were neither a part of the Maurya empire - nor a part of the Mughal empire.

The native empire you mentioned, Maurya Empire abandoned the conquest through war because of the whole Kalinga episode. Ashoka was far more interested in spreading the morals around after that, so much that his son became one of the messengers.

Though because of this, Cholas rose into one of the most fascinating empires with cultural influence over all of SE Asia. Even to date, the Thai king coronation ceremony is in Sanskrit, a language foreign to the land.

Re: Chanakya

#20

Post by logicx24 » Sat, Sep 05, 2020, 7:05 PM UTC

muststopmyths wrote: post #18

actuator wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any recommended reading you have on this? In general, all the foreign conquests that succeeded in India even later were when it was fragmented into smaller kingdoms.

Probably doesn't exist, since "India's defeat at the hands of Alexander" never happened. He barely made it to the border of the largest empire in contemporary India, by geography. Even the parts of current Pakistan he conquered were nowhere near major powers in the subcontinent. That was as far as he got before his army rebelled and forced him to abandon further conquest.

This is broadly true, though he did have an impressive victory at the Hydaspes and establish a series of vassal states in the Indian northwest (modern Pakistan). The historical consensus is that it's unlikely he would have succeeded in a Persian-esque conquest of the subcontinent.