Talk:Chandragupta Maurya (ruled from 322–298 BCE) & Guru Cāṇakya:Rājā Bhartṛhari and Samrāṭ Vikramāditya
By Vishal Agarwal
Raja Bhartrihari was a very noble king who ruled from the city of Ujjain in central India (or from Patna in eastern India according to others). This city has a famous temple of Śiva, known as the Mahākāleśvara Mandir. The king was a very sincere bhakta of Śiva. Pleased with his devotion, Devi Pārvatī appeared to him one day with a divine fruit and said, “I am pleased with your bhakti. Therefore, I am offering this fruit to you. After you eat it, you will regain your young age and will always look young and handsome.” The king bowed to the Devi and gratefully accepted the fruit. He worshipped it but just before he was about to eat it, he thought, “I love my queen dearly. I cannot bear to see her get old while I stay young. I will gift the fruit to her.”
He took the fruit to her and explained its divine qualities. The queen accepted the fruit from the king and pretended to be overcome with emotion and love. But she had a different plan in her mind. She said to the king, “I think I will spend tonight fasting and worshipping Śiva. After I have become pure in this way, I will eat the fruit tomorrow morning.” In reality, she was in love with the military commander of Raja Bhartrihari’s army! She sent him a secret message, asking him to come to her palace quietly. Then, she gifted him the fruit after explaining to him its marvellous properties.
Unknown to her, the military commander was in love with one of the maids of the queen, and gifted the fruit to her. She, in turn, loved a labourer, who in turn loved a poor woman who worked in the fields. In this way, the fruit passed through many hands till it was next morning.
The poor woman thought, “Our country is ruled by a very noble king. For the good of Ujjain, let me gift it to Raja Bhartrihari.” She appeared in his court with the fruit and offered it to the king after explaining its wonderful qualities to him. Raja Bhartrihari was shocked to see her gifting him the same fruit that he had given the previous night to his own queen out of love. He asked the queen to state the truth, and out of fear, she revealed everything. Soon, Bhartrihari found out how the fruit had changed owners one after another, because people had betrayed each other.
That day, a feeling of great sadness filled his mind. He thought, “All relations in this world are temporary and false. People just pretend to love each other. But almost everyone is fake, and tries to take advantage of others by pretending to love them. I have been living all my life amongst people I had trusted and loved. But they have all betrayed me. Perhaps, instead of trusting other humans, I should direct all my faith, trust, and love towards Bhagavān Śiva.”
He summoned his noble younger brother Vikramāditya and said, “Brother, I have decided to give my kingdom and become a sannyāsī. I want you to be the king of Ujjain now. I will spend the rest of my life meditating and in the search of a true Guru.”
Vikramāditya then became the king of Ujjain. He proved to be one of the greatest emperors of the Hindus in all times. Meanwhile, Bhartrihari visited several holy places like Haridwar on the Gangā river, Shalyakot (now called Sialkot in Pakistan), Shivishthan (now called Sehwan) on the Indus river in Sindh, and so on. Temples and memorials are found even today at many of these places. He is said to have accepted a saint named Gorakhnātha as his Guru. He wrote several works on Sanskrit grammar of which one (called Vākyapadīyam) is studied even today. He wrote 300 verses each on the topics of beauty, wisdom, and non‐attachment (to people and worldly pleasures) respectively.
In one of these verses, he describes how he lost all his attachment to the world after his own wife betrayed him. Even today, scholars memorise these verses which give us many valuable lessons of life. Let us read two of his verses below:
| Sanskrit Verse (IAST) | Translation |
|---|---|
| Sāhitya-saṅgīta-kalā-vihīnaḥ Sākṣāt paśuḥ puccha-viṣāṇa-hīnaḥ । Tṛṇam na khādan api jīvamānas Tad bhāgadheyaṁ paramam paśūnām ॥ |
They who are ignorant in music, art, and literature are like deformed animals that lack a tail or horns. Animals are fortunate that such humans do not eat fodder, or else such useless humans would not have left anything for animals to eat! |
| Yeṣām na vidyā na tapo na dānam Jñānaṁ na śīlaṁ na guṇo na dharmaḥ । Te martyaloke bhuvi bhārabhūtā Manuṣya-rūpeṇa mṛgāś caranti ॥ |
They who have neither knowledge, nor any austerity, philanthropy, wisdom, virtues, skills, nor fidelity towards dharm—such humans are a burden on this world and are like animals in human form roaming on this earth. |
In those days, large parts of western and central India were ruled by Shakas, who were invaders from Central Asia. King Vikramāditya fought them, and drove out the Shakas from India and freed the land. People rejoiced at their freedom and to celebrate his victory, a new calendar named the ‘Vikramī Samvat’ was started. This calendar is still used in large parts of India and Nepal for religious purposes by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs. A Chinese traveler named Fa Hien visited India by crossing the Himalayas in the early 5th century CE and described that the people were very prosperous, honest and law abiding. They ate pure food, avoided alcohol and were very hospitable.
In the later part of his rule, King Vikramāditya moved his capital from Ujjain to the holy city of Ayodhyā, which was the capital of Bhagavān Rama. By that time, Ayodhyā had become a ruined town and had to be rebuilt. An interesting story is narrated in our times about how Vikramāditya discovered the holy sites of Ayodhyā. Emperor Vikramāditya and his troops passed through a forest after driving the Scythian invaders out of India. There, a Sadhu informed the victorious Emperor, “This forest marks the site of the sacred city of Ayodhyā where the Divine King Rama had once ruled. With the passage of time, the city has become desolate and a forest now occupies its place. But if you meditate on Rama, you will have a glimpse of Him in your heart whenever you are at a spot associated with His divine acts.” Emperor Vikramāditya did as he was told, and was able to unearth 360 sacred sites related to the life of Rama. He then moved his capital city to Ayodhyā, which was restored to its ancient glory.
Under the rule of King Vikramāditya, India made great advances in poetry, art, literature, mathematics and sciences. Many renowned poets like Kālīdāsa, astronomers like Varāhamihīra and other scholars lived during the reign of the Gupta dynasty. For this reason, the rule of Vikramāditya and other kings of his ‘Gupta’ dynasty is sometimes referred to as the ‘Golden Age’ of India.