Introduction

Presented by Radhakrishnan Pillai

Kautilya's Arthashastra eCourse comprises 52 short lessons which you will be able to view once a week in you're my Account. In this eCourse, Radhakrishnan brings out practical application of these verses in today's scenario. He has picked up selected verses from the Arthashastra and explains in detail practical tips to practice the same in our homes and offices.

Kautilya (Chanakya), the world's first Management Guru
Chanakya was the world's first management guru. His management thoughts and ideas helped kings and rules for centuries. All the powerful kings in ancient India like Ashoka had learnt Arthashastra and practiced it to expand their kingdom multifold (increase market share), to protect the kingdom against powerful enemies (develop a strategy against competitors), develop winning strategies, habits and practices.

How do the kings and rulers of today's corporate world apply his techniques in their respective organisations? Chanakya in his world famous book Kautilya's Arthashastra has brought out some of the key business principles and strategies.

Kautilya's Arthashastra, the oldest Book on Total Management
Kautilya's Arthashastra is the oldest book on Management available to the world. It was written by Kautilya (also known as Chanakya and Vishnugupta) in 300 BC. When literally translated, it means 'Scripture of Wealth'. The main focus of the book is on creation and management of wealth.

However, the book is a masterpiece which covers a wide range of topics like statecraft, politics, military warfare, strategy, selection and training of employees, leadership skills, legal systems, accounting systems, taxation, fiscal policies, civil rules, internal and foreign trade etc. It also covers various technical subjects including medicine, gemology, metallurgy, measures of length, tables of weights, divisions of time, among many others.

No wonder scholars down the centuries have time and again described Kautilya as a rare mastermind who could be an expert in so many varied and specialized fields.

He was responsible for bringing down the Nanda dysnasty and establishing his able student Chandragupta Maurya on the throne as the emperor. Hence, he is called a King Maker. He is also credited with having masterminded the defeat of Alexander the Great in India, when he was on his march to conquer the world.

As a political thinker, he was the first to visualize the concept of a 'Nation' for the first time in Human History. During his time, India was split into various kingdoms. He brought all of them together under one central governance, thus creating a nation called Aryavartha, which later became India.

He documented his life-long work in this book Arthashastra. For ages, rulers across the world have referred to the Arthashastra for building a nation on sound economics, based on spiritual values. Emperor Ashoka is supposed to have built and expanded his kingdom on the principles described in this book. Shivaji, the ruler of the Indian state of Maharashtra, is said to have studied this book in order to plan and defeat the Mughals.

Even though India and Indians never forgot the Arthashastra, the study and practical application of the book lost its importance since the British rule. Prof. Shama Shastry rediscovered the book in 1905, and he wrote its first English translation.

However, apart from the scholarly work, this book needs to be once again represented for practical application in today's world. The book has got many principles and techniques, which once applied can prove a tremendous improvement even in our day-to-day management.

Your eCourse Facilitator
Mr. Radhakrishnan Pillai, himself a businessman, has taken lot of pains over the last ten years to study this book in detail under many well known scholars of India. He has been teaching the principles of management contained in this book to various corporations, management students and research scholars. He is a weekly columnist on the same subject for the Times of India newspaper (the world's largest selling newspaper).

Some may ask, "Is this book written over 2000 years ago still applicable in today's world?" For which, great thinkers have said, "The Arthashastra is a book about the management of the 'human mind', which has remained the same since ages."

"So long as the Human mind remains filled with its negativities of jealousy, ego, hatred and over indulgence, so long as human beings require self control, discipline and management., 'Kautilaya's Arthashastra' will remain relevant."

Who can benefit from Kautilya's Arthashastra eCourse?