Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c18.13

c18.13

The Jain version, like the Buddhist, refers to outbreak of lawlessness at the commencement of Chandragupta's rule. It mentions Nanda's followers as the culprits instigating it. It also mentions a different remedy taken to suppress the disorder. Chāṇakya, observing a weaver (*Kolika*) killing bugs by setting fire to those places in his house which contained their nests, chose him for his method, that of tearing away evil from its roots (*mūlādunmūlya*). The weaver was appointed as the chief of the city (*Nagarādhyaksha*). He succeeded in allaying the suspicions of Nanda's followers, who were the robbers, by his gifts, and then having them murdered.