To bring Amatya Rakshasaas
Chandraguptas minister! Chanakya's thought appears at first sight very strange
indeed. Amatya was totally loyal to the Nandas. Would he agree to be Chandragupta's
minister?
It appears even after the death Nandas, Amatya Rakshasa made several attempts to
get-Chandragupta killed; and Chanakya had to protect Chandragupta with utmost care, until
he finally made Amatya Rakshasa agree to be the minister. This is the theme of a famous
drama entitled "Mudra Rakshasa" written by Vishakha- dutta. All that this
literary work expounds cannot be accepted as history. But by and large it portrays the
struggle between the two statesmen, each of which was an intellectual giant.
Amatya Rakshasa tried in many ways to have Chandragupta killed. Once when Chandragupta
was getting a new palace called "Kumara Bhavana" constructed, Amatya sent for an
official by name Bhuvanapala and told him - "My friend, you must help me in a big
way. Please decorate Kumara Bhavana on a very grand scale. Let it have all royal amenities
for Chandragupta to live therein. In the bedroom, fix large full-size mirrors near the
cot, and behind them let there be niches in the wall so that armed soldiers can hid there.
They must wait for the right times a kill him. Let this be done very secretly. Here is a
bag of gold for you."
Bhuvanapala made these arrangements in Kumara Bhavana as suggested by Amatya Rakshasa,
without giving room for any suspicion to Chandragupta.
When Chandragupta expressed his desire to change his residence to Kumara Bhavana,
Chanakya said - "Yes, but I will first see that place. If everything is all right,
you can move in there on an auspicious day. "
Chanakya went with some trusted soldiers to Kumara Bhavana. The decorations were all
really good. Yet his eyes were very sharp. He said - "This mirror does not suit the
place. Shift it there. That portrait should not be there. Bring it here."
And then the soldiers hiding in the niches with drawn swords were discovered. They had
been stationed there by Amatya Rakshasa to kill Chandragupta. Chanakya had them arrested
and executed.