Chandragupta Maurya was the first king of the Mauryan dynasty. Tied crucially to his story, is the story of his Guru Chanakya who shaped his life and moulded him from a boy to a king of one of the greatest dynasties of the subcontinent. Chankaya, also popularly known as Kautilya was the ultimate reason for the Rise of the Mauryan dynasty as he was its fountainhead.

Chanakya, with his broken tooth and dark skin, was always subjected to others’ mockery. This infuriated him very much. One day, he went to the palace of Dhanananda to receive alms. There, he was insulted for his looks and his plans for the expansion of the king’s territory. He untied his hair and vowed to tie it again only after the destruction of Dhanananda and his empire.

Pabbata, son of Dhanananda was somehow befriended by Chanakya. Chanakya had a great plan for the fall of Dhanananda. He, with the help of a ring from Pabbata, earned eighty crore gold coins which were kept in a huge pit for later purposes. He was in search of an audacious man who could execute his great plan against Dhanananda. It was then, that he met Chandragupta Maurya.

Chanakya now had two options, either to defeat Dhanananda through his son or through Chandragupta. To find the best one among these boys, he conducted a small test. He asked Pabbata to remove the woollen thread from Chandra Gupta without waking him up. This woollen thread is called janeu and is a sacred thread received as a rite of passage by someone studying under a guru. Pabbata failed this test. When the same was asked of Chandragupta, he beheaded Pabbata and removed the thread. This fearless act of his impressed Chanakya very much.

Another version goes that Maurya, the father of Chandragupta, was the uncle of Dhanananda. Dhanananda considered Maurya an enemy of the throne, so he decided to capture Maurya and his sons. One day after hunting, he invited them to dine with him. Once they stepped in, the doors of what was a prison were closed. All of them died of starvation except the younger one, Chandragupta. Somehow, he managed to escape. On getting to know this news, King Parvata of Parvatadesh sent Kamalpida, his trusted spy to find the surviving Maurya.

Kamalapida in disguise entered the Magadha empire with a lion in a doorless cage. He challenged the people to bring the lion out without breaking the bars of the cage. Messages from the Magadha king spread that anyone who solved the mystery would be rewarded. None showed up but Chandragupta did. He observed the lion and said that it was made of wax. He set fire to the cage and proved it. As promised, Chandragupta got his freedom and became in charge of the state's guest house.

One day, he met a scholar who passed by and invited him to the guest house. He was none other than Chanakya. Chandragupta honoured Chanakya by serving him with great reverence. At that time, Dhanananda came and asked Chanakya to give him the seat of honour but he ignored him. In anger, the king pulled him up and his hair became untied. He cursed Dhanananda that he would destroy him and only then would tie his hair.

Later that night, Chandragupta narrated his past to Chanakya. Listening to his story, Chanakya and Chandragupta started to plot against Dhanananda. Though there are many versions of the stories of Chanakya and Chandragupta, the major core is that Chanakya had been humiliated by Dhanananda and wanted revenge on him with the help of a boy named Chandragupta Maurya. This eventually led to the downfall of the Nandas and the emergence of the Maurya dynasty as per the mythical tales and folklore.