Monday, June 27, 2011

Clash of the Titans

Recently I saw a question on internet comparing the mights of Genghis Khan and Chandragupta Maurya. My first reaction was in the favor of the Mongolian ruler, as he had conquered much of the Asia and was known to be a fierce battler, whereas the mighty Chandragupta Maurya had majority of Indian subcontinent... So by a naive conclusion I decided Genghis Khan as the answer...Then, out of interest and availability of a lot of free time, I started Googling about it...

Genghis Khan was a ruler in 13th Century AD, whereas Chandragupta Maurya reigned around 300 BC... So, there is a gap of around 1600 Years between the two empires... Also Chandragupta Maurya had defeated the then Seleucid empire (currently Iran and Iraq).. But the Seleucid emperor offered her daughter in a marriage proposal to Chandragupta as a token of friendship, which was accepted by Chandragupta. So if we tend to think relatively, Chandragupta Maurya's empire area in 300 BC is very impressive...

Population wise the Mauryan empire consisted of 35% of the world population at its time, whereas Mongolian empire had 25% of the world population at its time... So, in terms of administration, Mauryan empire was more complex than the Mongolian empire...

Chandragupta Maurya defeated the Nanda's and became king when he was 20, and ruled for 22 Years. On the other hand Genghis Khan became king at the age of 44 and reigned for 21 Years. Also, Chandragupta Maurya is credited with bringing together the small fragmented kingdoms of the country and combining them into a single large empire, The First empire of India. 

With this data set, I shrewdly concluded that Chandragupta Maurya was a better administrator, better attacker and a better king...

Society...

Are there more qualities in us humans then we have come to known? The answer lies within ourselves... there are many desires in a human mind. everyone of us seek wealth, power, etc. It is the extent of desire that matters. The ultimate goal is happiness. The above things are raw materials for enjoying life, and are not themselves the final product... so, these are important but, are they to be given more importance than attainment of knowledge, wisdom, peace, compassion? What is the purpose of our existence? What is the true significance of our powerful mind? It is the quest for finding answers. Answers to the questions which have been asked from generations to generations.

I thrive to see a society where everyone takes the role and responsibility of a leader and of a local garbage collector. For this, only one quality is required in every individual - satisfaction of what one is and what one has. The society will then be an ideal society. No hidden intentions, no wickedness, no anger. In Hindu literature, these negative qualities are called "tamas" and the person who possesses it is said to have "tamasic vrutti". One should set oneself free of these negative qualities. There should just be celebration of life. Each moment should be savored and something productive should be done.

Then again this is an ideal scenario and such a revolution in the society is very difficult to ignite and sustain... But society is an ocean in which each human is a water droplet. If color of water droplets changes, there is a definite change in the color of ocean... So if majority of us move towards the enlightenment, our society will change...