Kautilyan Approach and Samurai Spirit Must Find a Way
Originally published by Indian Military Review (IMR) Read more…
For many years, the India-Japan partnership has suffered from a needless hesitation and superficial doubt. The ‘Modi-Abe era’- one of the most promising phases has passed but the search for a shared ground and the ‘magical’ push is still on. It is unfortunate that how two countries, very much synced in their values, culture, philosophical traditions, moral codes, and belief systems, are maintaining a distance from each other, due to reasons outside their environment. There are still many dimensions where the India-Japan partnership is in a state of void. But at the same time, from this void, the real push of this partnership can emerge. As great Samurai Miyamoto Musashi had said: “By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void.”
India is the land of Kautilya and Japan is of Samurai; we may have stopped looking ourselves like that but still, a major part of the world views us in that light. An assertive Bhartiya mind and a calm Japanese gesture often give the impression of Kautilya and Samurai to the rest of the world. The curiosity with which western strategist explores ‘Arthashastra’ and ‘The Book of Five Rings’ (Go Rin No Sho) itself reflects that somewhere a Machiavellian mind is still cautious about the Kautilya and Samurai way. Ironically, we never give a thought to combining this aspect of our potential, the possibilities of which can ignite the curiosity of strategic fraternity.
We must recall that it was an Indian mind that reminded the world community about the true definition of war crimes, peace, and humanity and defeated the winners’ propaganda (during the 1946 Tokyo Trials) all alone. In the honor with which the Japanese see Justice Radhabinod Pal, lies the true essence of this partnership.
In his book ‘The India Way’ (Chapter- “A Delayed Destiny- India, Japan and the Asian Balance”) Indian Foreign Minister Shri S. Jaishankar writes: “This realization in two nations that they have little choice but to help shape their continent is now an impelling force of a new partnership.”
If we look at the current status of the India-Japan partnership, a good amount of activities are going on in the economic and security spheres and during the last six years, the pace of development has enhanced. In defense and security, although the relations are still non-strategic, the engagements are gradually gaining traction via joint military/naval exercises, by initiating 2+2 Foreign and Defence ministerial-level dialogue (First held in Nov 2019) and through recently signed logistical exchange agreement based on the reciprocal provision of supplies and services (between Armed Forces of India and the Self-Defense Forces of Japan).
On the economic and business side, one can say that Japan is one of the most active countries in ‘Transforming India.’ Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has invested in several hard and soft infrastructure projects (power, roads and connectivity, high-speed railways, metros, industrial and freight corridors and water management, etc.) in different parts of the country through traditional Official Development Assistance (ODA) facilities. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project, Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, and Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor are some of the notable examples. Japan is the first country which is allowed to invest in the infrastructure in North East India along with other strategically important parts of the country like Jharkhand and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands. And the currency swap agreement signed in 2018 was a sign of maturing economic partnership between the two countries. These moves are significant but the real potential of this combination is yet to be leveraged.
For the quantum leap in this partnership, both sides will have to reflect some dare in their imagination such as visualizing the Kautilya with an army of Samurai warriors or Samurai warriors with master strategists like Kautilya with them.
Kautilyan Approach and Samurai Spirit Complement Each Other
Western strategist reads Kautilya to understand India’s military-strategic culture and foreign policy approach and their understanding generally revolves around: the Six-fold of foreign policy (Rajamandala theory), defined elements of sovereignty (Saptanga theory), Kautilya’s comprehensive vision of statecraft, his political-military, socio-economic frameworks, etc. as documented in the classic text of ‘Arthashastra’, which is regarded as one of the ancient and foundational sources of the strategic thinking. Some see his works as the tested contrivances applied to power politics and found them useful in dealing with the vices, calamities, and internal/external troubles related to even the modern-day States too.
For Bharat, Kautilya is the symbol of a Guru, a master strategist, who was determined to protect the motherland from the foreign invaders and to reclaim the ancient glory of Bharat back. He defeated the western invaders’ ambitions with the combination of physical and intellectual strength, raised a call for unity, freedom, and national security at a time when many of our kings/lords were indulged in satisfying their narrow and greedy aspirations. We remember Kautilya for his great efforts in rebuilding our national character and for reestablishing an environment where a Guru can remind the Kings and his courtiers about their obligation towards the Nation.
Kautilya visualized the approach of a Conqueror, his all possible alliances with friends and enemies, and possible war/peace time scenarios that a country navigates through. He emphasized on the elements of sovereignty and the knowledge of power, place, time, strength, and weakness as he asserted that “a wise king, trained in politics, will, though he possess a small territory, conquer the whole earth with the help of the best-fitted elements of his sovereignty and will never be defeated.” Our experiences of the Kautilya era tell that when the interests of the Nation placed above everything else and when a strategist with such a deep understanding of sovereignty and its political craft guides the path, then even the troops of mercenaries (the least form of the army) can yield surprising results.
The curiosity with which West reads Kautilya, they read Samurai warriors of Japan too, the popularity of English versions of all important writings of Japan’s popular master warriors speaks a lot about this continuing fascination. The Samurai represents a warrior for whom the swordsmanship is not just a skill to be learned and applied in combat but it is much beyond that. In the martial culture of Japan, the swords were not seen as a tool of warfare alone but as a vehicle of personal growth too. For them, the swordsmanship was like art in which the focus was more on intent and spirit. It is interesting to note that Japan’s master Samurai (master of samurai strategy or way) gave importance to cultivating mental discipline, intuitive abilities, and development of internal factors involving mind and spirit.
There are schools of thought developed by practitioners of the Samurai’s way’ which rejects the perspectives of viewing swordsmanship simply as a collection of techniques and physical moves. Their writings have advocated the use of strategy as a craft, becoming ‘formless’ in approach, the principle of emptiness (reading opponents intention), and attaining the state of ‘Mushin’ (the state of no-mind) before any move. Some popular stories of martial arts, written around the 18th-19th centuries, talks about these aspects, such as the story ‘The Mysterious Skills of the Old Cat’, in which the old cat (who caught a powerful rat with natural ease while no other well-trained cats were able to do that) on responding about her mysterious skill of catching that rat which amazed everyone, says: “It’s simple, think of nothing, do nothing. When I move with intuition I’m formless, when I have no form there is no one in the world who can oppose me.”
The advanced writings of swordsmanship have mentioned the Spirit of Aiki (a harmonious contest), the Spirit of Uchiadachi (attacker), and the Spirit of Winning, etc. One can say that in the true Spirit of Swordsmanship, the aim is to respond freely to changes in the situation (improvisations), with a controlled anger and killing spirit. But at the same time, there exists a little contradiction as well, we find the master warriors of Japan saying all that is mentioned above (mind, spirit, calmness, strategy, etc.) but the lords of that era seem advocating loyalty, devotion, and desperateness kind of elements. Lord Naoshige once said: “The way of the Samurai is in desperateness. Ten men or more cannot kill such a man. Common sense will not accomplish great things. Simply become insane and desperate.” However, these arguments must have been said in a particular context and their meaning should be seen in that light.
Code of Honor
In between all these views, Japan saw the emergence of some codes for Samurai warriors, called the code of honor (such as Bushido) and the ritual of Seppuku (a ritual of suicide originally propagated among the Samurais) as well. This was a phase when too much emphasis was given to things like loyalty, honor, purity, and selflessness, in the center of which exist the idea of devotion and usefulness to lords or daimyos. Such practices went to an extent that during the Edo Period (1600-1867) the rituals such as Seppuku became more detailed and standardized particularly when Bushido- the set of codes for honor and ideals for Samurai were developed. In the book HAGAKURE written by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, which is called the book of the Samurai, it is has been put that “the Way of the Samurai is found in death. When it comes to either/or, there is only the quick choice of death.”
Without commenting on the basis and intent behind those practices and from a fair calculation about the effect of them on Japan’s position, it appears that Japan lost many brilliant minds, brave warriors, and precious lives not for the call of duty to the motherland but under the name of honor/guilt/shame/failure kind of emotions, documented as codes of honor for Samurai. Unfortunately, Japan-the land of Samurai was embracing those practices and values at a time when a larger part of the world was on a Machiavellian ride.
While Kautilya represents a Guru and Samurai an ideal Warrior, it is crucial to see that the Spirit of the warrior always needs the guidance/strategy of a guru like Kautilya, thus in many ways, both complement each other.
India is the land of Gurus and Warriors both. Our cultural heritage spanning across continents is itself the witness of the implementation of this combination. In the ancient scriptures of Bharat, the role of Guru in the life of a warrior is illustrated beautifully, from Ramayana, Mahabharata to the Kautilya era, one will always find a Guru (and sometimes many gurus), equipped with the knowledge of advance military and political science both, directing and channelizing the energy of the warriors in the right direction. It is this aspect of Bharat with which Japan needs to get familiar with.
Today, it seems that India is again emerging as the Kautilya in the world of diplomacy, and in many ways, Japan’s economic progress has the reflection of the Samurai spirit. By combining these aspects of their heritage, India and Japan can put an end to the legacy of choreographed patterns of engagement.
Miyamoto Musashi once said: “Strategy is the craft of the warrior” and in his book ‘The Book of Five Rings,’ he perfectly described that the Spirit of the Warrior or Fighting Spirit is like the Fire which needs Ground (strategy), Wind (traditions) and Water (methods). And there always exists some space for the ‘Void’ too which helps in perceiving the things on a wider sense. By starting on this note, India and Japan can sow the seeds of a new strategic culture in this continent.
