The Viṣṇu- and the Bhāgavata-purāṇas narrate the story of Candragupta Maurya in brief. However, as Dhanika says, it is quite likely that the seed story of the Mudrārākṣasa is from the Bṛhatkathā. We don’t have enough evidence to claim that there was another historical work which could have served as the basis for the plot of the play. The core of the play is historical; however, the poet has added a great amount of detail to the story out of his creative imagination. The killing of the Nandas, the establishment of Candragupta on the throne, and winning over Rākṣasāmātya are historical facts; the major characters are also historical; however, it is possible that Nipuṇaka and other secondary characters are created by the playwright.
The Mudrārākṣasa occupies a special place in the history of world literature for its unique plot, episodes, characterisation etc. As described in the previous segment, the core of the story is the strategies that Cāṇakya comes up with; the story is not rooted in romantic desires; we encounter a few female characters only towards the end of the play; other than that, the play is almost devoid of women. Every bit of the play is important – there is nothing that is extraneous or redundant; all the events together add towards phala-prāpti. The most striking aspect of the play is the characters of Rākṣasāmātya and Cāṇakya.
Cāṇakya is synonymous with his strategies; Rākṣasa is the target of all his endeavours; he wanted to ensure that Rākṣasa sides with Candragupta Maurya of his own accord; he has mainly employed bhedopāya to this end, for none of the other upāyas would yield fruit. If he were to resort to the path of sāma, he would never have been successful in turning Rākṣasa’s loyalty away from the Nandas; Rākṣasa was not desirous of wealth and thus, dāna would not have worked either; even if he wanted material resources, he was capable of resorting to different means to earn whatever he desired. If Cāṇakya were to employ daṇḍopāya, it would have been detrimental to Rākṣasa’s life; moreover, he wasn’t someone who would yield to pressures. Daṇḍopāya and the associated battles naturally result in more bloodshed than strategic bheda; it is not that Cāṇakya bothered himself much about the loss of lives; in fact, to be successful in his strategy, he even has the innocent Parvateśvara killed; he got the helpless old man, Sarvārthasiddhi eliminated as well; nevertheless, we must admit that Cāṇakya never uses an axe in what can be achieved using a nail. We can safely say that he achieved his goal without waging a war and without causing too much bloodshed; he caught Rākṣasa by himself being almost stationary at a place. Cāṇakya’s vision can be explained in a sentence or two; however, it is so profound that it yields fruits at many different levels.
The main ingredients required for the success of bhedopāya are the intelligence of the strategist and maintaining confidentiality in all activities. Cāṇakya was endowed with massive amounts of both qualities; he was very sharp and shrewd; Rākṣasa, who possessed vast experience in managing a country, its people, and the council of ministers, appears dull in contrast with Cāṇakya, especially in his intellectual prowess; as soon as Cāṇakya had Candragupta installed on the throne, he started thinking of ways of getting Rākṣasa to his side. He understood that as long as Rākṣasa remained an opponent of Candragupta, the kingdom would be at immense danger from him; and at the same time, if Rākṣasa were to side with Candragupta, the benefits would only be twice as expected. Cāṇakya could peacefully retire to tapas only if the kingdom were in the able hands of the Rākṣasa; he knew that Candragupta would do best with a minister who was not only intellectually strong like himself but also possessed kṣāttra qualities; there was no way that a plan hatched by Cāṇakya would ever fail. He always thought ten moves ahead of everyone else and he was never slow in action; his brain functioned at the speed of lightning. As soon as he lays his hands on the ring, Cāṇakya declares, “I have captured Rākṣasa!” – this instance alone is sufficient to demonstrate Cāṇakya’s forethought and genius of action; the moment he found the ring, his mind had imagined the remaining deeds and had also seen the end. Once he began performing a task, he did so with great alacrity and focus; there was never a loophole in his execution; he never ignored any aspect of his activity. Thus, in order to win over Rākṣasa, Cāṇakya first ruptured his friendship with Malayaketu. He demonstrated through Bhāgurāyaṇa and others that Rākṣasa was responsible for Parvateśvara’s death and that he was favourable to Candragupta; by doing so, he brought a rift between Malayaketu and Rākṣasa. As the quarrel took place close to Kusumapura, Rākṣasa naturally came to the city, especially upon hearing that Candana-dāsa was going to be executed; Cāṇakya ensured that Rākṣasa disposed of his sword on his way and was empty-handed when he arrived at the place of execution. He made him accept the position of a minister of his own accord.
To be continued ...
The current series of articles is an enlarged adaption of Prof. A. R. Krishnasastri's Kannada treatise Saṃskṛta-nāṭaka. They are presented along with additional information and footnotes by Arjun Bharadwaj.