CONTEMPORARY GREATS IN CHANAKYA'S TIME
Stand in History
India in Chanakya's Times
People and Society
Political Scenario
Economy
World Citizen
Nationalist
Strong Leader
Man with Many Names
Contemporary
Philosopers of Asia
Foreign Invesion
Chanakya's Dreams
Chanakya's Education

It is an intriguing coincidence that when Chanakya proved to be pivotal character in the development of economy and polity in the country, many path breaking philosophers, thinkers, social reformers and religious leaders changed the time to come like never before. Their thoughts and new vision affected the whole world and made India the star of the East. Great souls like Gautam Buddha, Mahavir and Charvak were just a few of the greats who would share the honors in the centuries to come. These towering personalities cleansed the society of the social evils and presented religion in the right perspective. Across the world from Asia to Europe, every country and community was shown a new way of life and religious awakening which kept the wellbeing of people as the only goal. Gautam Buddha not only reformed the Indian society but also countries of Asia and Europe. The great religious leader and founder of a new civilization; Jesus Christ was leading the world to a novel philosophy bereft of dogmas and persecution. The whirlwind of thoughts from these minds definitely would have been an eye opener for the world at large.

At a time when India was going through the turmoil of change, the Greeks and Chinese were ahead in social reforms and new line of thoughts. As every action has a reaction, it took India 15 centuries to come out of the Dark ages; the exact number of centuries of the prevalence of Dark ages. To get a clear picture of the happenings around the world, it is essential that we take note of the achievements of the Greek and Chinese civilization. How can we forget the great scholars like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle who immensely contributed to the development of the human race. If Indian thinkers have affected the world in a big way then we have to accept the fact that somewhere down the line India might have been inspired and moved by Greek philosophy and ways of living. Our ancestors and origins of civilization were one and there was a close relationship between the Greek and Indian nations of the bygone era.

More than three centuries back when philosophers and thinkers debated; creating a tug of war of convictions and beliefs was going on in India, the same events were taking place in Greece. One question was prevalent both in the West and the East – What lies at the center of creation? Who has created this world? And whose manifestation is this creation? The elements of nature; such as air, water and sky were worshipped and accepted as Gods. In the sixth century BC, water was considered as the main element of nature. At the same time, some other philosophers disagreed to the notion as water was too small an element to be revered as God. This was the time when the Greek philosopher Kanaad gave his ideology, which comes very close to Indian religious ethos. According to him, there is no single all-important element in nature; there are actually five elements, which interact with each other to give life to the living beings. The most important thing here to mention is there was no parity of thought between the Greek philosophers and their Indian counterparts such as Buddha and Charvak. Pythagoras who lived in 582 BC was more rational than their predecessors. He studied the secrets of nature rather going into the philosophy of its existence.
He was not only a scientist but also an ardent follower of religion and philosopher. Another thinker called Alia in the 480 BC believed that there is no difference between human beings and God. He was of the view that Gods appear just like human beings having normal capacities to perceive and perform. Hercules, a contemporary of Buddha believed in the law of change and controlled actions; in concurrence with the ideology of Buddha. Perhaps the most modern of thinkers was Socrates who opposed the orthodox beliefs in the religion and sought to glorify the importance of knowledge and learning. Socrates’ disciple, Plato vowed to complete the task left incomplete by his master. He was the first philosopher who didn’t want to be just a thinker but he wanted to put his thoughts into actions. He said, "there can be no change in the society until and unless the real philosophers are not given the reins of power." Aristotle lived in 563 BC and followed his teacher Plato, who backed an egalitarian society in which there is minimal of differences. Aristotle might have got influenced by Buddha in a big way as there is a distinct similarity of views and actions among the two. Buddha used to distribute whatever he got as alms between his disciples. He believed in the equality in assets and even in the consumption of commodities thus, following the egalitarian system advocated by Aristotle. The purpose of mentioning the ideologies and names of the philosophers here is to decipher the differences and similarities between the thinkers from the East and West.
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