Management and Corporate Guru Chanakya

By Himanshu Shekhar

Kautilya's management skills can be mastered by you if you read this amazing book. It is a fact that we frequently discuss the thoughts of foreign scholars but rarely, we talk about our own scholars. Acharya Chanakya was the most ancient management guru of the world. Besides politics, he suggested the management techniques for all other spheres of life. How we can properly manage our lives on the basis of what Chanakya had said is the main focus area of this book.
Himanshu Shekhar has been listed in the category of young journalists who have registered good progress. He started his career from Jansatta and his features have been published in almost all leading newspapers and journals. His features well published in different newspapers and journals in a very short span of time. Since he is a bold writer, he always remains under limelight.

Himanshu did his schooling from Aurangabad (Bihar). He graduated from Delhi University and did his masters from the IIMC, New Delhi. Presently, he is associated with a leading newspaper of the country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diamond Books
• Release date: Dec 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9788128828140

Book preview

Chapter 1

Identifying a Person

The success or failure of a person depends heavily upon his capability of identifying the right person. If one is able to find the right person, one’s way to success becomes very smooth. On the other hand, the company of a wrong person is sufficient to make one’s life total failure. The guidance and mantras given by Acharya Chanakya guide us so that we are able to take care while trying to recognize the right person. Apart from this, he also suggests us to keep some points in mind for recognizing the right person. If these things are kept in mind while selecting a person for a particular piece of work, then success is sure to come your way.

Acharya Chanakya had a unique quality of identifying the right person. He had taken an oath to dethrone Ghananand (or Nand, according to many historians), the emperor of Magadha. He had also decided to unlock his hair maine (choti) after dethroning Nand. He was looking for a suitable candidate who could pass the grueling training exercise to become the king of Magadha. He was roaming aimlessly in search of a suitable candidate. At one point of time, he reached Pipli Van village, near the Himalayas. There, he saw some children engaged in a game of feigning as king and his subjects. He immediately focused his attention on a boy who was acting as the king in that game. Chanakya noted that the boy, who was posing as the king, had all those virtues which were Necessary for becoming a king and able administrator. Immediately, he decided that such a boy shall become the emperor of India!

Chanakya tested the boys in their game and the boy, known as Chandragupta Maurya, passed the test. When Chanakya was sure that the boy had all the qualities to become a king, he joined the boys in their game and asked for charity from the king. The boy (Chandragupta) gave all the cows grazing there as charity to the brahmin (Chanakya). Then, Chanakya told him that those cows belonged to others. Hardly had Chanakya finished his words when the boy pulled out his sword and said, O Brahmin! My sword shall protect you. Perhaps you don’t know that my father used to say that the kingdom that doesn’t respect brahmins or give charity to them is doomed. This statement further clarified Chanakya’s resolve that the boy he had selected to execute his plan was a perfectly right choice. The rest of the story is known to all. Chandragupta Maurya became the ruler of Magadha under the guidance of the wisest of all gurus—Chanakya!

Acharya Chanakya has given many formulas to recognize a person. If one follows these formulas even as one recognizes the people in his or her life, distinguishing a right person becomes very easy for him. In his mantra, Chanakya says:

ज्ञानानुमानैश्च परीक्षा कर्तव्या ।

This means that a person should be tested on the grounds of wisdom and guess. If a person is to be selected for a particular job, first of all, his wisdom should be tested. It should be checked whether he knows the piece of work allotted to him. It should also be tested how much he actually knows about that piece of work. Apart from this, the previous pieces of work done by him should also be evaluated to know if he is capable of doing the assignment given to him. If a person has neither any knowledge about a given piece of work nor done any similar piece of work in the past, it becomes too difficult for that person to be successful in that particular work realm.

So, while choosing a person for any kind of work, due consideration should be given to his wisdom and experience.

Regarding the testing of a person, Acharya Chanakya has written the following in Chanakya Neeti:

जानीयात्प्रेषणेभृत्यान बान्धवानव्यसनाऽऽगमे ।

मित्रं याऽऽपत्तिकालेषु भार्या च विभवक्षये ॥

This means that the kin are tested when the appropriate time comes. Chanakya goes on to state that while doing an important piece of work, the servant is truly identified, i.e., his capabilities are tested by his master. At the time of grief, one’s kith and kin are tested. At the time of crisis, a friend is tested. When there is loss of wealth, one’s wife is tested and identified, i.e, it is learnt whether she would be able to extend financial support to one or not.

If we extend the meaning of this verse given by Management Guru Chanakya, we learn that a servant is truly tested only when he is sent to do an important task. It is just possible that his royalty towards his master may be tested while deputing him for a certain (important) task. During such testing moments, the servant (or assistant), who remains royal to his master even after putting his life and honour at stake, is a servant in the true sense of the word.

The second issue is that the kith and kin of a person are tested only during the time of grief. In fact, the world is becoming more and more selfish with each passing day. Most people have become selfish to the core. That is why it has become difficult to differentiate between the right and wrong people. In order to differentiate between these two categories of man, Acharya Chanakya has suggested a better way. According to him, during good (prosperous) times, all types of man are with you and give you support. But it has been observed that when your good days come to an end and bad days start, these friends, who were hitherto feigning as your well-wishers and sympathizers, move away from you. It is under such conditions that the test of real friends and kith and kin is undertaken.

Hence, we must never lose our perseverance in any condition. Rather, we should view such incidents as the ones for getting new, educative experiences of life. Those people, who remain with you even during your bad times, are your true well-wishers. Hence, you should invest your faith only in such people. The ones, who did not give you support during such (tough) times, should never be trusted in the future.

In this context, a question arises—how can we identify or test trustworthy people? Another question crops up—can trustworthy persons be identified through their special symptoms? In this context too, Acharya Chanakya gives a solution. In Chanakya Neeti, he states :

नाखीनां नदीनां च श्रृंगीणां शास्त्रपाणिनाम् ।

विश्वासो नैव कर्तव्य: स्त्रीषु राजकुलेष़ु च ॥

This means that wild and violent animals having long nails, rivers, animals with long horns, armed persons, women and royal families must never be trusted. We never know when they would attack and harm us.

We should face no problem in understanding that lions, bears, tigers and other animals having long nails can never be trusted. That is because these wild animals are very dangerous and violent. Trusting them would lead to inviting a host of (lethal) troubles. Hence, it is better to keep away from such animals.

While extending the same principle, Acharya Chanakya mentions other types of symptom too. This discussion eventually leads to the conclusion that one should collect all sets of information about a person before trusting him. It is not appropriate to trust any person with blind eyes. If we do so, we may have to face dire consequences.

Management Guru Chanakya has clearly written in Chanakya Neeti about the process of recognizing and testing a person who is to be trusted regarding a piece of work. Thus, he writes:

यथा चतुर्भि: कनकं परीक्ष्यते, निर्घषणच्छेदन तापताडनै: ।

तथा चतुर्भि: पुरुष: परीक्ष्यते, त्यागेन शीलेन गुणेन कर्मणा ॥

This means that men are tested from their virtues only. Here too, Kautilya says that gold is tested by grinding, cutting, heating and beating. Similarly, Management Guru Chanakya avers, man is tested on the basis of his sacrifice, perseverance, virtues and deeds.

Every one is aware of the fact that gold is rubbed on anvil to test whether it is pure or impure. Later, it is cut. Then, it is melted in fire. Finally, it is beaten. Similarly, a man of a decent, respectable family is also tested by examining his sacrificial ability and nature. Besides, he is also tested on the anvils of virtue and deed. A good, noble man is one who has good virtues. His deeds are also visibly good. His output (work) is also very good and up to the mark. Hence, such types of person can be trusted.

Another very important mantra has been given by Acharya Chanakya to recognize a person. He has said:

अज्ञानिनां कृतमपि न बहु मन्तव्यमू ।

It means that we should not give any importance to the tasks done by the foolish people.

This should be a typical basis for recognizing a person. There is always a possibility that a person may perform a piece of work inadvertently. Despite this, he may not realize how he was able to do that piece of work. For example, imagine that a monkey is made to sit in front of the computer and while it is messing up with the keyboard, a beautiful poem pops on the screen. Thus, it doesn’t mean that the monkey has become a great poet! This is a mere coincidence This action of the ape cannot be considered to be his quality. So, a person should not be selected only cm the basis of one particular piece of work; rather, it should be a basis for the continuation of his work. If a person has been performing well for quite some time, his expertise in it can be accepted and he can also be trusted for the execution of that particular piece of work in the future. The reality is that if a wrong person is somehow chosen for doing a particular piece of work, its success is a remote possibility. Moreover, the self-confidence of the man also suffers a jolt.

Acharya Chanakya, a management guru of the yore, suggests the ways to identify the right person and for this, he gives a mantra, as follows:

मर्यादातीतं न कदाचिदपि विश्वसेत् ।

It means that a person, who does not follow the rules of society, should never be trusted because he can go to any extent.

Identifying the right person can be very easy if this mantra of Acharya Chanakya is followed. The right person is the one who respects the rules of society. These traditions and rules of society ate not made overnight. Rather, these have been carved out keeping in mind the welfare of the whole society. This means that a person, who overlooks these rules, is full of arrogance. He considers himself above society. Trusting such a person is harmful to your aim as well as yourself. The success of any piece of work lies in its proper management. Apart from this, the choice of the right person and allocation of the task to him according to his capabilities also contributes to the success of management.

Management Guru Chanakya further clarifies the art of recognizing the right person through his mantra, as follows:

अप्रियेणं कृतं प्रयमपि द्वेष्यं भवति ।

This means that if an enemy does something good for you, beware of him. He says that there must be a secret in this action of your enemy. Acharya Chanakya says that such behaviour should be considered as an evil move. Acharya Chanakya is totally practical here. We all face such experiences in our lives. In many cases, a person, who is not on good terms with you, approaches you as a well-wisher and promises to work honestly with you.

If you trust him, he takes charge of the task at hand and instead of accomplishing it, he tries to mess up the whole thing. The result is that once again, you feel as if your were stabbed in your back! You were about to forget the enmity and become friends but the person is successful in executing his evil plans in the name of friendship. So, due consideration should be given to this tenet. You must not be deceived by your own superficial ignorance of by your enemy. The final loss would be yours!

This is also possible that at some point of time, your enemy may have a genuine change of heart. These situations ask for appropriate evaluation. Such a person should initially be given a piece of work of less importance. If he performs it honestly, he should be allotted other assignments. Also keep special vigil at every step that is involved. If he is up to something fishy, he would not succeed in spoiling your apple-cart.

Acharya Chanakya has given one very significant mantra for this purpose. He says:

अविश्वस्तेषु विश्वासो न कर्तव्य: ।

This means that we must not trust the unfaithful. Trusting those people is risky who are not being tested in a proper manner. Having faith in a person Without testing Him means inviting trouble. These people harm the task as well as they can harm you personally. So, Chanakya advices to be beware of such persons. The truth is that the whole life of chanakya is full of wisdom and experience. So, when he gives us a mantra, it reflects his wisdom as well as his practical experience. Most things that he has said appear to be bitter initially but when one apples them in one’s practical life, they seem to be perfect.

For the time being, Management Guru Chanakya repeatedly suggests that we should be extra careful with foolish people. In one of his mantras, he says:

उपकर्तर्यपकर्तुमिछत्यबुध: ।

This means that a foolish person harms even his own well- wishers. If you judge a person and consequently, find him to be foolish, never trust him. Trusting him would only earn disrespect and harm for you. Normally, what happens is that we misjudge people and then, put blame on others. The reality is that we ourselves are responsible for that situation, not others. If a genuine person is allotted a job, he will be successful in completing the job and you will be benefited too. You should not align foolish people with you because they have a negative approach. Howsoever good you may do for them, they would always adopt the evil path. That is why a person, who does something good for foolish people, is ultimately harmed by those very people. That is why Acharya Chanakya repeatedly suggests that