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Acharya Chanakya is one of the most influential philosophers from India who gifted us profound wisdom about human life, power and success. Indeed, his powerful ideas helped king Chandragupta establish the Maurya empire in 321 BCE. In this article we will learn 3 great life lessons from Chanakya for becoming successful and focused in life.

1. Chanakya About Freedom
Acharya Chanakya wrote in in his classic text Chanakya Niti:

“My dear child, if you desire to be free from the cycle of birth and death, then abandon the objects of sense gratification as poison. Drink instead the nectar of forbearance, upright conduct, mercy, cleanliness and truth.

One of the basic truths of existence is impermanence. Whatever that arises passes away. Therefore, running after sensual desires is meaningless as they are fleeting in nature. Furthermore, these desires will spread like wild fire and will misdirect our focus from our purpose in life.

Realising these truths, we should concentrate on developing the values that Acharya has mentioned above. Once your heart gets filled with truth, mercy and forbearance, success won’t stay away from you for long.

2. Chanakya Against Fatalism

“He who is prepared for the future and he who deals cleverly with any situation that may arise are both happy; but the fatalistic man who wholly depends on luck is ruined.

Acharya Chanakya believed that human beings should remain autonomous and lay out the course of their lives by themselves. No external element, whether it is luck or family members, can gift us the skills and personal excellence that we must develop by our own efforts. Hence, by realising this truth, we must prepare for the future with utmost focus and sincerity. We should let go of the whims of the moment in order to achieve greatness in the future.

3. Chanakya About Living in the Present

”We should not fret for what is past, nor should we be anxious about the future; men of discernment deal only with the present moment.”

Another fundamental truth of life is the present moment. The past is gone and the future is yet to arrive. However, we have total control over the present moment. Thus, we should ground ourselves strongly on this moment. All great things are achieved by masters who came before us through intense present moment awareness. Meditation is a powerful tool that we can use to develop this quality. Furthermore, engaging in mindfulness activities like yoga or deep breathing will take us get a long way as well.

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