Chanakya's Chant

by Ashwin Sanghi

‘A man who opens his mouth too often may end up meeting a tragic end, either from indigestion or execution!’

‘Ancient India was full of myths which have been handed down from son to father. A collection of myths is called mythology.’

‘Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. I can see that you have it, son.’

‘Yes, I do believe in good luck, son. And I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it,’ Agrawalji joked.

‘The root of wealth is economic activity, and lack of it brings material distress. In the absence of fruitful economic activity, both current prosperity and future growth are in danger of destruction. In the manner that elephants are needed to catch elephants so does one need wealth to capture more wealth.’

debt should be paid off till the last pana, and an enemy destroyed till the very last trace,’ reasoned the unrelenting Chanakya for the benefit of his new admirers.

One does not need to pluck fruit from a tree that is about to be chopped down. The fruit will fall by themselves. Focus on the bigger purpose and the rest of your manifesto will follow as a matter of course.’

‘If we want people to have respect for the law, then we must first make the law respectable, son.’

‘Correction. In order to become master, a ruler must profess to be a servant of the people.’

After all, a good speech is not one in which you can prove that the king’s telling the truth, it’s one where no one else can prove he’s fibbing.’

politics is war without bloodshed and war is simply politics with bloodshed.’

Government is about principles. And the principle is, never act on principle.’

‘The best person to advise one on how to protect a bank is a thief.

‘The time’s not yet ripe, Senapati. The only great achieve-ments that make it to the pages of history are those to which tremendous thought and preparation have been given.’

The source of livelihood of men is wealth, and the science of the means of attaining and protecting it is politics!’

Chanakya loved anger. It was a wonderfully energetic emotion and could be used very productively if channelled in the right direction.

‘A free society is one where it’s safe to be unpopular, but then, freedom of speech also carries with it the freedom not to listen!’

sometimes a majority only means that all the fools are on the same side.

‘Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.’

‘It’s foolish men who die for their country. The intelligent ones make others die for their country instead.

The press is not interested in problems that are already solved! They first need a dramatic problem with insurmountable odds.

‘Winning is not only about strengthening yourself; it’s also about weakening the enemy. Anything that reduces the Opposition’s vote-share must be done if we’re to win.’

defeated but not dispirited, wounded but not vanquished, chained but no less proud.

‘Chandragupta, my son, a battle is never about who’s right. It’s mostly about who’s left!’

Always remember that a conjurer will offer you alter-natives to choose from but you always end up picking the one that he wants you to!’

please do not believe that renunciation is to forsake power. Rather, it’s the very means to power!’

‘Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head,’

‘O Rakshas, everything is always all right in the end. If it isn’t all right, then it isn’t the end,’

‘It takes two to tango,’

‘Politicians are like diapers—they need to be changed frequently! Anti-incumbency will work beautifully against them.’

it’s often easier to get forgiveness rather than permission!’

Wise men think all they say, fools say all they think.

clear conscience is usually a sign of bad memory. In any case, in the world of politics you can ill afford luxuries such as a clear conscience!’

The early bird catches the worm but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese!’

‘Listen, doctor. There’s nothing glorious about dying—anyone can do it.