Friends ,
Namaste to you all.
Today, I am thinking of sharing with you all , my experience of watching "Upanishad Ganga". But, before I begin talking about it, it would be wise for me to introduce you to this to my unknown audiences. Well, this is a TV serial which comes on DD National every sunday morning at 10:00 am.
From the title itself,you will come to know about it's content. It talks about stories from the Upanishads and every episode has something new to offer. This week, it was about Kautilya arthashastra. This scripture was written by Acharya Chanakya and is an excellent masterpiece on managing and earning money in the society. But, effectively it deals with , how to be happy in life.
In this particular episode, Acharya Chanakya becomes the Mahamantri before the coronation of Chandragupta, his disciple, whom he groomed to defeat the Magad kingdom.One city trader is caught for withholding tax and goes to meet acharya chanakya. Acharya Chanakya, stays in a small hut, and allows people to meet him on a first come first serve basis. this trader tells him, why is my stuff being caught and can we not settle it?Acarya asks him "Have you here for your benefit or society benefit". He replies saying "Greed is always personal, never for the society". Acharya gets angry and shuts up his oil lamp. there is complete darkness in the room. He says " We can talk greed in darkness, as I do not want to waste the precious oil coming from the common mans taxes for your greed.
The man runs away saying,he will come in the broad daylight. He complains to the Chandragupt. Chandragupt is furious with his master thinking , if we do not keep these rich business men happy, how will I run my empire. He goes to meet his Acharya and asks him about his opinion. Acharya Chanakya tells him, It is the people of your kingdom who are your real assets and not the business man. He says" Money is not the prime thing in life, while the foodgrains and the people of your kingdom is the prime thing".
His sutra is " Sukhasya mulam artha, arthasya mulam rajya, dharmasya mulam dharm."Which means, behind happiness is money, behind money is rajya, behind rajya is dharm. So, effectively he is trying to say us to follow the path of dharm to be happy.
Chandragupta meanwhile is unhappy that he has to take all instructions from his Acharya, while he does not have his personal wishes fulfilled. So, he feels suffocated in this environment and does not want to be the king. Acharya Kautilya comes to his palace and asks him as to why does he not want to be the king.? Chandragupta says" I have become a slave to you and your kingdom and I have no personal life of my own. I thought that by becoming the king of this country, I will become happy and have complete freedom, which is not the case." He further blames and questions acharya chanakya as to why did he gave him false promises that he will make him the king of Magad and also a Chakravarti Samrat of Bharatkhand.
Acharya Chanakya, gives a beautiful reply saying" I sure made the promises to make you the king, but never to make you happy. It was you, who thought that by becoming the king, I (chandragupta) will become happy.You are the king and so your happiness lies in the happiness of the people of your kingdom. Till the time, a single person from your kingdom is hungry, you cannot be happy. A king does not have individual right to be happy. So, start taking care of your kingdom and your own people, then only will you be happy."
What a message?. Is it not true and relevant for our times. I wish and hope that the future politicians from our country will read kautilya arthashastra and take proper lessons from it. This is the finest book on politics, governance and economics one can come across.
Namaste to you all.
Today, I am thinking of sharing with you all , my experience of watching "Upanishad Ganga". But, before I begin talking about it, it would be wise for me to introduce you to this to my unknown audiences. Well, this is a TV serial which comes on DD National every sunday morning at 10:00 am.
From the title itself,you will come to know about it's content. It talks about stories from the Upanishads and every episode has something new to offer. This week, it was about Kautilya arthashastra. This scripture was written by Acharya Chanakya and is an excellent masterpiece on managing and earning money in the society. But, effectively it deals with , how to be happy in life.
In this particular episode, Acharya Chanakya becomes the Mahamantri before the coronation of Chandragupta, his disciple, whom he groomed to defeat the Magad kingdom.One city trader is caught for withholding tax and goes to meet acharya chanakya. Acharya Chanakya, stays in a small hut, and allows people to meet him on a first come first serve basis. this trader tells him, why is my stuff being caught and can we not settle it?Acarya asks him "Have you here for your benefit or society benefit". He replies saying "Greed is always personal, never for the society". Acharya gets angry and shuts up his oil lamp. there is complete darkness in the room. He says " We can talk greed in darkness, as I do not want to waste the precious oil coming from the common mans taxes for your greed.
The man runs away saying,he will come in the broad daylight. He complains to the Chandragupt. Chandragupt is furious with his master thinking , if we do not keep these rich business men happy, how will I run my empire. He goes to meet his Acharya and asks him about his opinion. Acharya Chanakya tells him, It is the people of your kingdom who are your real assets and not the business man. He says" Money is not the prime thing in life, while the foodgrains and the people of your kingdom is the prime thing".
His sutra is " Sukhasya mulam artha, arthasya mulam rajya, dharmasya mulam dharm."Which means, behind happiness is money, behind money is rajya, behind rajya is dharm. So, effectively he is trying to say us to follow the path of dharm to be happy.
Chandragupta meanwhile is unhappy that he has to take all instructions from his Acharya, while he does not have his personal wishes fulfilled. So, he feels suffocated in this environment and does not want to be the king. Acharya Kautilya comes to his palace and asks him as to why does he not want to be the king.? Chandragupta says" I have become a slave to you and your kingdom and I have no personal life of my own. I thought that by becoming the king of this country, I will become happy and have complete freedom, which is not the case." He further blames and questions acharya chanakya as to why did he gave him false promises that he will make him the king of Magad and also a Chakravarti Samrat of Bharatkhand.
Acharya Chanakya, gives a beautiful reply saying" I sure made the promises to make you the king, but never to make you happy. It was you, who thought that by becoming the king, I (chandragupta) will become happy.You are the king and so your happiness lies in the happiness of the people of your kingdom. Till the time, a single person from your kingdom is hungry, you cannot be happy. A king does not have individual right to be happy. So, start taking care of your kingdom and your own people, then only will you be happy."
What a message?. Is it not true and relevant for our times. I wish and hope that the future politicians from our country will read kautilya arthashastra and take proper lessons from it. This is the finest book on politics, governance and economics one can come across.
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