Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c4.34

c4.34

**They know only of Nanda's base origin.** These passages from the *Purāṇas* tell their own tale in no equivocal terms. They clearly point to the following propositions: (1) that the Nanda kings were base-born, and had inaugurated unrighteous and unlawful Śūdra rule which the *Śāstras* do not approve; (2) that it remained for a militant Brāhman, the redoubtable Kauṭilya, as the custodian and upholder of *Dharma*, to rid the country of its usurpation by Śūdra rulers and restore it to the lawful rule of the Kshatriyas; and (3) that, after accomplishing this mission of his life by ‘uprooting’ the race of Nandas, Kauṭilya chose Chandragupta for the throne to which he was consecrated by the performance of the ceremony of *abhisheka* or anointment prescribed for royalty. This formal anointment of Chandragupta to sovereignty by an orthodox Brāhman of unbending strictness, a master of the *Śāstras*, and an uncompromising champion of *Dharma*, like Kauṭilya, is a proof positive that the man of his choice must have been one of noble lineage, a Kshatriya who was eligible for kingship.