Thus Spoke Chanakya (Ancient Wisdom for Daily Inspiration)

No school or university teaches us how to make friends, have a successful career, maintain a healthy married life, run a family or live life in general. How many times have we wished for a roadmap to navigate the confusing landscape of daily-life, to have- a guidebook to show us the way?

In his much-awaited book Thus Spoke Chanakya, bestselling author Radhakrishnan Pillai decodes ancient texts from the illustrious Kautilya's Arthashastra within the context of modern times and doles them out in short, crisp passages for everyday practice and use.

A perfect read for those who yearn to master the teachings of Chanakya for overall success.

Radhakrishnan Pillai is the bestselling author of Corporate Chanakya, Chanakya's 7 Secrets of Leadership, Chanakya in You and Katha Chanakya. He has a PhD in Kautilya's Athashastra and a Master's degree in Sanskrit. A renowned management consultant and speaker, he heads the Leadership Center at the University of Mumbai.

When my publisher asked me to come up with yet another book on Chanakya, it took me some time to decide on a topic. I first thought of writing about Chanakya's teachings but later changed my mind and decided to put together what I understood from his teachings.

Look at it this way, if Chanakya was alive today and wanted to share all his wisdom with us in a simple style, what would he do?

Would he write another Kautilya's Arthashastra? Well, my guess is that he would simplify the Arthashastra to suit our fast-paced generation.

Compared to Chanakya's time, we are facing issues that were unimaginable then. Our world is developing at an alarming speed. What you thought of as the latest technology is already old before you start using it. Distance is not a problem anymore; we can travel across continents in hours. Communication with anyone anywhere is possible in real time. Think of the person you want to talk to and you can connect to him from right where you are, no matter where he is in the world.

Even after all this, our major problem is time management. So much to do and so little time.

If Chanakya was around, he would understand that this generation doesn't want to spend too much time gathering wisdom. They want it quick, short, here and now.

That was the thought that made me write this book.

Thus Spoke Chanakya is made of simple one-liners explained in two paragraphs, distilled from Chanakya's insightful teachings in the Arthashastra. There are around 300 such one-liners that cover various subjects like leadership, time management, family, trust, productivity, etc.

All these are Chanakya's original thoughts, explained in different words, in a different time. I have just put his wisdom in simple sentences to make it easy for all of us to understand. This book has been created with a lot of thought - keeping the essence of Chanakya, yet presenting in different fashion.

In this book you will find that many ideas are repeated time and again. Please note that this is no mistake but by design.