The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad was in the news after the serial pager and walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon and Syria. The way Mossad performs espionage and intelligence missions from time to time, its exploits are nothing less than a fantasy story. In this case, once the Mossad story got out, it went far and in India, such discussions became history.
When it comes to spies, espionage and intelligence, the name Acharya Chanakya comes to the top. The importance of the name Acharya Chanakya also increases because the stories of the mantra-seeing saints and sages contained in the mythological stories are his living examples. The scholar, dressed in saffron, wearing a crown on his head, with the three gems on his forehead and holding a stick in his hand, was not only knowledgeable in Sanskrit, grammar, politics, economics, but also in yoga, wrestling, kalariapattu and was proficient in physical strength.
Acharya Chanakya transformed Chandragupta from a common soldier to an emperor
Acharya Chanakya not only trained Chandragupta from a common soldier to a king, but also made him the emperor of India with his wisdom and talent, and his empire expanded from Kashmir to Kabul, Kandahar, Lahore (Takshastra) and even beyond Singhu. The vast plateau plains area. In the south, Chandragupta had expanded to Dakshinapas. Defeated Seleucus, drove him out of India, and established the Maurya Empire. Chanakya was determined to put an end to the brutal and dissolute Nandavanshi, and in doing so brought a new future to India.
Espionage is an important part of the state
All this is not so easy to cover in one paragraph. Chanakya took his whole life to do it. He mentioned many aspects of politics in Arthashastra and wrote many facts required by the king in one chapter and explained each part in detail. It mentioned things related to the army, ministers, courtiers, sentinels and the public and when Chanakya elaborated on it, he described the spy type as the most important part for the state and the king.
Chanakya wrote that a spy is like the king’s sense organs. He is the king’s secret entry into every corner of the kingdom and at the same time he has information about every conspiracy against the kingdom. He is the king’s eyes, nose and ears, and while saying this, Chanakya has made an important discussion about espionage and spying in the Art History. He particularly emphasizes on their selection and types.
Cooks, servants, priests, prostitutes, and spies all needed skills.
Chanakya wrote that the criteria for selecting a spy should be intelligence, cleverness, and trustworthiness. Apart from this, the purpose of espionage should be to gather information about the adversaries, understand their plans, and plot their strategies. This way the king could be two steps ahead of the conspirators. These spies also included cooks, servants, priests, dancers, and Vishkanyas.
Types of spies
Chanakya describes many types of spies in his Arthashastra, but previously he had only specifically mentioned two main types of spies.
He named them “mutable and immovable”.
Institutional intelligence (static):
These spies live permanently in a particular location and monitor activities at that location.
They used to gather information about the plans and activities of enemies or suspects.
These spies included temple priests, merchants, and other locals whose role was to gather information important to the state.
Travel Detective:
These spies used to constantly travel and visit different places to get information.
Their job was to gather information from enemy countries, trade routes, and border areas.
These spies moved around as saints, monks, merchants or artists so that their identities could remain hidden and information could be gathered easily.
Both types of spies were used for national security, to know the enemy’s plans, and to maintain peace in the regime. They held a special place in Chanakya’s intelligence system, which he considered an essential part of state governance.
On this basis, Chanakya also described the types of spies. Chanakya divided spies into four categories.
1. Captique- Spies in disguise
2. Sadness- Anonymous spy
3. Short mudra – Espionage through tokens or currency
4. Samba Summer – Pretending to be a confidant
Apart from this, Chanakya narrates two other differences.
Udargopt (information collector): Keep an eye on your enemy’s plans.
Terminology (General Intelligence): In the past, they gathered information by living among the civilian population.
Some of the main tasks of Chanakya Spy
1. Collect information about your opponent
2. Understand their plans
3. Develop a strategy
4. Confuse your opponents
5. Recruit talent to your side
Intelligent systems
Chanakya also described in detail the types and roles of spies, according to him, spies could be students, sadhus, merchants and poisonesses. Ambassadors also played the role of spies. Their job was to convey secret information about India and foreign countries to the king. They contributed in assessing the state of public opinion, controlling rebellions and destroying enemy states. Chanakya suggested keeping the spies happy by giving them money and the respect of the king.
Four Principles of Diplomacy
In the context of the country’s foreign policy, Chanakya also expounded the four principles of diplomacy – Sama (explanation, elimination), Daam (satisfaction by giving money), Danda (use of force, war) and Bheda (division). Chanakya believed that the first two principles should be used by weak kings and the last two principles should be used by strong kings, but he also believed that equality is better than price, price is better than discrimination, and discrimination is better than punishment. Punishment, that is, war, should be used as a last resort. Because it will also bring harm to oneself.
No mention of the spy’s name
Apart from these principles of Chanakya, there is no clear mention of who his main spies were. If there were any spies, they remain anonymous in history and now thousands of years later they have been forgotten. Despite this, the names of some of Chanakya’s spies appear in different narrative contexts. Among them, the names of Shaktadosh, Katyayan, Charudatta, Radhagupta and Jeevasiddha are mentioned prominently but there is no clear mention of how correct these names are and whether they were actually spies of Chanakya and Chandragupta. Although names like Jeevasiddhi, Jeevasiddh and Charu appear in Kalhan’s plays of Rajtarangini and Mudrarakshas, it is not clear whether these are real or fictitious.
The Story of Gupcharan Jivasithi
Jivasithi is said to be a spy disguised as a monk, who travelled around and was good at winning people’s trust through magical words. That is, in the words of Chanakya, he was both a Sambhashya and a Kappatik. He is mentioned several times, even though the Nandavanshi dynasty ended, but there were problems in establishing Chandragupta as king. In fact, Nanda’s chief minister Rakshas was a classmate of Acharya Chanakya of Takshatra. Chanakya knew his intelligence and strength, and also understood his weaknesses, but it was still not easy to take the demon into his arms. Secondly, Chanakya did not even want to kill the demon, because it might destroy his huge wealth of knowledge unnecessarily.
He saved the life of Emperor Chandragupta many times.
For this, Chanakya spread rumors in the demon’s camp that Jeevasiddhi was an astrologist. Another special policy of Chanakya was that even two spies should not know each other unless it was absolutely necessary. Jeevasiddhi had to prove himself to the demon, only then he could approach him, Jeevasiddhi met the demon and revealed to him the secret events that had happened many years ago. Jeevasiddhi played the planetary game, did the multiplication of Vaastu, and said that there was a secret hidden in the secret room in the south direction of Nand Palace, where wandering souls, unsatisfied souls were?
The demon was surprised at the questions he answered because many years ago Dhananand had killed one of his Brahmin rivals. Jeevasiddhi had won the demon’s trust. Now the demon along with Jeevasiddhi started planning to kill Chandragupta. He asked Jeevasiddhi to tell him on which day Chandragupta should be killed by observing the planetary movements.
Thwarted the devil’s plan
It is mentioned that one day, the spy told him about Tratak Yoga and this information was passed on to Chanakya. Chanakya was already alert that day. When the poison was brought to the king’s court, Chanakya asked the person who brought the poison to drink it. He had to drink the poison in front of the king and was killed. In this way, Jivasiddhi became the confidant of the demon and saved Chandragupta’s life many times. In this way, after living with the demon for many years, Jivasiddhi changed his heart and also made him reconcile with Chanakya. This was the peak of the spying. Later, Rakshasa also became a minister of Chandragupta and devoted himself to serving the country.
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