Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 15

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 15

A man who has mercy and compassion for all creatures is religious for sure. He does not require any religious symbol or sign to prove his religiousness.

A guru who shows his disciple the path of righteousness leaves a huge debt. It cannot be payed back as none of the physical objects is so precious.

There are two ways to deal with wicked people and thorns. One is to crush them under your boot and other is to stay away from them.

One who wears dirty clothes, has filthy teeth, oversleeps, and uses foul language. Such person cannot gain prosperity and good health.

When a person looses money. then his woman, friends, servants, and relatives also move away. Upon regaining money they will try to come back. This means that money is your ultimate relative in this physical world.

The wealth earned by unjust means will perish for sure.

A wrong act done by a person with power is hailed and many times is justified. On the other hand, a good task done by a poor might not grab that much attention.

Even if a gem be placed on foot and a mirror on head,. Still, the gem will not loose its value.

The knowledge in holy scriptures is like a huge sea. For a man with busy like it will not be possible to read and understand everything. He must act like a swan i.e. attain what is useful and leave the rest.

If a man neglects a hungry and tired traveler that came to him in hope for some food and himself begins eating. Surely, such person is a charlatan.

If a man recites religious scriptures without bothering to understand the ideas being stated. Such person is not better than a ladle that is dipped in all kinds of food, but is unable to taste even one.

Frequent visitors loose respect. For example: Moon appears so bright until it enters home of Sun (on daily basis) .

Greed is the root cause of troubles. A black bee enjoys nectar from a lotus flower, but in search of more it goes to forests and paddy fields where it gets hurt from thorns of different flowers.

The bond of love is supreme and has a very significant impact on life of a person. A black bee can drill hole in hard wood, but gets trapped in lotus flower. It can get its freedom quite easily, but it hesitates to hurt the flower.

The fragrance of sandalwood remains even upon chopping it, a bull-elephant does not stops mating even in old age, and sugarcane tastes sweet even upon being crushed. Such is the nature of a high-class men that remains unchanged even in poverty.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 14

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 14

In this world there are only three gems. They are water, food grains, and good language. On the other hand fools consider those stones to be precious gems.

Poverty, diseases, conflicts, and other problems in life are nothing, but the fruits from tree of ones own misdeeds.

You can earn money after losing it, you can make new friends, and also you can get another wife, but this is not the case with body. [take good care of your health]

Numerous straws reunite together to frame a thatch to provide protection against rain. In the same manner, when men unite together to form an army they can easily vanquish the enemy. In other words, “Unity possesses great strength”.

The following have great tendency to spread. They are oil on water, a secret with a man of unjust character, donation to a worthy man, and learning of a wise person. [Yep! oil spreads on surface of water, a wicked person will reveal your secret to everyone, donation to right kind of person will add to your glory, and a wise man keeps on learning]

One becomes enlightened and awaken on listening to the religious talks and sermons, on attending some funeral, and on falling sick severely. [... how many of us think about God only when in pain. It is not strange and very true fact]

Normally, a man regrets upon his act of sin after accomplishing it. If same wisdom be shown before doing the action then the man will definitely attain Nirvana.

There is no need to get satisfied with knowledge, act of charity, politeness, penance, and worldly wisdom. As this worlds is full of such gems and you cannot get enough of them. [i.e. always a chance for doing better.]

Is someone lives in heart of someone then distances don’t matter. On other hand a person who has no place in heart doesn’t matter, even upon being physically near.

It will be good for you to not get too close to a king, fire, and women. Also, don’t stay too far from them otherwise you will get deprived of the rewards. [... maintain the balance in life, of life and for life]

One must cautiously deal with fire, woman, fool, snake, and members of royalty. They may prove fatal.

Only a capable man who lives life as per principles of religion is alive in real senses . If not, then the person is living a life of no use.

A really wise man is well aware about the art of speaking, he talks as per situation, speak the words that add to his fame, and shows anger in accordance with the power he possesses.

The three views of three beings for a very beautiful woman were. She will be equivalent to a corpse for some Yogi. A lustful man will consider her as an object of desire. For a dog, she will be nothing, but a lump of meat. [... contains very deep meaning. Discretion advised]

A wise man will never reveal his secret to anyone. He won’t discuss formula of his secret medicine, his religious resolves, problem in family, consumption of bad food, and his sexual acts. Also, he will not indulge himself in such discussions. (specially the ill talks about others) [... I know you have a lot of important tasks to perform and care for time. Dont you!]

A cuckoo bird will not sing until arrival of spring i.e. there is a right time for different tasks.

O man! you must leave the company of wicked persons and must come closer to noble fellows. You must do good deeds all day and night with faith in God because this world will perish one day. [not on the dooms day, but with your end, your world will also end at that very instance]

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 13

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 13

The points stated below contain ideas illustrated in the 13th chapter of Chanakya Neeti . Have a look …

It is better to live a small life (three quarters of an hour) doing good deeds than living a sinful life for thousands of years. It is your acts that count, not your life span.

One must not be afraid of future, nor shall regret upon past. Wise men concentrate on utilizing the present to frame a brighter future.

Good people, deity, and your father will not be demanding anything. You can satisfy your kith and kins by offering them good food, and for satisfying a learned men you will just require a few polite words of wisdom.

The nature of noble people is quite strange i.e. instead of acting arrogant upon attaining wealth they bow down in humility and act more modestly and respectfully.

One must give up infatuations in order to remain happy and to gain control of his life. Infatuation is the root cause of many troubles and worries.

One who plans and prepares himself to face challenges and difficulties is most likely to succeed against problems in life. On the other hand, if a man leaves everything on luck then he will perish for sure.

If a king is religious then his subjects will also be religious, if a king is sinful then his subjects will also be sinful. Also, the subjects of a careless king will also be careless. The conclusion is that “As as king will be, so will be his subjects”

A man without religion is living dead, while a religious man lives even after his death. [Also, to be noted that Chanakya said that "The greatest religion is of humanity"]

Like the udders on neck of a goat, the life of a person is totally useless if he has no wealth, no love, is devoid of religion with no hope of salvation.

It is characteristic of lowly people that they enjoy belittling successful people and feel jealous.

The attitude of a person plays very significant role in his life. At instances he finds himself bound by the wordily desires and with a slight change in state of mind he can also set himself free.

It is not possible to fulfill each and every desire. Your fate will not be able to serve them all. The solution is that the man must feel satisfaction in whatever possessions he had. [Must not confuse it with sate of inaction and feeling contented]

Even in the heard of thousands of cow the calf finds its mother. In save way the acts of a person follow him i.e. you can’t run from your deeds.

A disorganized person finds no peace no matter where he goes. In civilized society he faces the criticism of others and if in forest he will feel lonely.

Like you get water on digging, in same way on serving/comforting your guru you will gain knowledge. [There is a difference between preacher, teacher and Guru]

Each individual gets rewarded as per his deeds. This is why wise men think about the outcome before indulging themselves into any task.

One who don’t show respect to God, takes hundred births in yoni of a dog and then is born as a charlatan.

In the end the mighty sumeru mountain will be uprooted from its base and the land will be wiped away by sea. Even then the superior persons will be standing firm on their resolve to fulfill the promises done.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 12

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 12

The lines stated below contains the ideas stated in 12th chapter of Chanakya Neeti. Have a look …

Such home is endowed with divine favor of God where sons & daughter obey orders , the housewife is sweet tongued, family members are hardworking, the money is earned with honesty and is sufficient to fulfill their needs, food is in surplus, servants are faithful, guests are welcomed, and is often visited by learned spiritual teachers.

O king, a person who donate a little of his earning to deserving Brahmins (full time involvement in spreading enlightenment in the society with charity as the only way of their livelihood) attracts multiple amount of his donation in different ways by the grace of almighty God.

The world is maintained by good people who are polite and helpful to their near ones, people who are compassionate to deserving fellows, who show no mercy to wicked, face powerful opponent with bravery, who show respect to learned scholars, show reverence to parent and guru, and who are good at tackling women in a wise manner instead of putting complete trust in them.

Chanakya compares such man to Jackal and calls him the lowliest; whose hands do not come forward for charity, ears do not listen the sermons in holy scriptures, eyes never focus on saints, legs do not move the path of pilgrimage, who earn money by unjust means, and who do not take care of their parent or guru.

Fate is a very strong component in life. Chanakya expresses this opinion by giving following examples:
You cannot blame spring for taking away the leaves from a Karel tree. (A rare leafless tree)
An owl cannot see in daylight and none can be blamed for this.
In same manner you cannot blame the cloud if the raindrop does not fall in the open beak of Chatak bird. (As per mythology Chatak bird only drinks the rain drops that fall at time of Swati Nakshatra. For this it opens its beak and waits for drop to fall in it.)

[Take note that those lines did not said that destiny is everything. ]

A good person can inculcate goodness in a bad person, but the badness of a bad is unlikely to be transferred in nature of a good person. The fragrance of a flower might leave its effect on soil beneath. but the flower never attains the murky smell from soil.

[In an other verse of Chanakya Neeti it has been said that you cannot turn a real wicked to some nice person. The thing to be noted is that both are correct in their own contexts]

Beholding a sadhu is like an instant pilgrimage for which you don’t even require visiting a holy place.


A traveler goes to a new city (a bad town) where he asks following questions to a wise man and receives following replies.
Who is greatest in your village? The man replied that the ‘Toody’ trees is greatest as all men fall on the ground after consuming its milky intoxicant.
Who performs greatest charity? … The Washerman takes clothes of men in morning and returns those in evening. [no charity]
Who is most clever? … all men consider themselves as clever and are engaged in cheating one other for money and women.

… And how do you survive at such place? The wise man says … I am just like an insect who is born in filth, lives in it and dies in filth.

* The passage above is a satire stating the condition of a state without law & order. Where people drink, cheat, do no charity, and have adapted themselves to such situation.

Once a divine saint was asked about his family. He replied that his mother is truth, knowledge is his master, religion is as brother, kindness as sister, peace as wife, and tolerance to be his son.

Festivals (very happy moments) for a:
cow is to find a green pasture.
Brahmin is to receive an invitation for meal.
a women is to see her husband recovering.
but… for me the festival is to have faith in God.

A person who considers women of others as mother, wealth of others as dirt, and one who sees his own soul in all living creatures; is the person who has really found the truth.

One who always abides by religion, is a polite speaker, is always interested in acts of charity, is/has a faithful friend, show respect to any good advice, respects guru, full of knowledge, and have faith in almighty is a noble soul for sure.

O lord Rama, there is no point in comparing you with anyone. [a simple explanation for a longer verse ]

One must learn decency from princes, speech from scholars, art of bluffing from gamblers, and cunningness from a woman.

One who overspends money without planning, who provokes the stronger opponent, and one who desires relationship with all kinds of women will definitely go for a quick destruction.

One must not worry about meals and must perform his duties. It is God who will arrange food for you. [Something closely related to Karma Theory of Bhagvad Gita. Action is supreme and person devoted to his duty is unlikely to face such trouble. The line has nothing to do with inaction]

A pitcher can be filled drop-by-drop and so is the case with your wealth.

A person with evil nature is unlikely to change even after gaining maturity. So is the case with a bitter pumpkin that does not taste sweet even upon ripening. [A class of such persons do exists.]

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 11

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 11

This article contains the ideas illustrated in the 11th chapter of Chanakya Neeti. Have a look …

The natural tendencies for charity, basic logic, politeness, and ability to bear pain cannot be taught to anyone. Either you have them or don’t.

A person who leaves his community to join another community is likely to face quick destruction. Same will be the case with king who don’t cares for his subjects.

A small goad controls a giant elephant, a small lamp destroys a great deal of darkness, a small hammer can break huge mountain. Their size is insignificant to the purpose they solve.

A student who continuously thinks about comforts of home (homesick) will not be able to gain knowledge. One with greed cannot be truthful. One who debauch cannot acquire piety.

The taste of Neem will remain bitter even on irrigating it with milk and butter. Same is the case with a wicked soul i.e. no advice can change his mind.

If the mind of a person is filled with evil thoughts then any number of pilgrimages won’t cut his/her sins.

It is no surprise that a person with incomplete knowledge will try to debate and argue the men with true knowledge. This can be understood from example of a tribal woman who rejects precious gems and selects cheap beads for decoration.

The person who does not speaks for a whole year and who only opens his mouth to eat will enjoy heavenly pleasure of about 10 million years. (The simple explanation is that , “silence is gold”. Men who speak too much reveal their secrets to other and face problem.)

A real student refrains himself from love, flattery, anger, infatuations, preening, entertainment, and oversleeping.

A person who consumes single meal in a day, has control over his mind, performs his religious duties, and who involves with his wife for offspring (not mere pleasure) is a true ‘Brahmin’. A Brahmin who involves himself in trade, raises cattle, does agriculture, is a mercenary Brahmin.. One who deals in lac, indigo, flower, meat , wine, and honey belong to lowest class. [Discretion Advised]

One who spoils the work of others, is egoistic, treacherous, selfish, and jealous, but tries to present himself as honest and polite cannot be a ‘Brahmin’ but a cat.

A wise men will never desecrate any kind of water. Be it in a well, pond, river, garden, or temple.

One who steals from his guru or from temples, engages with wives of others is nothing but a Charlatan.

Even the bees have to repent for storing too much honey which they collect after putting so much courage and hardwork. In same manner the people who don’t do charity face heavy losses. The kings gain glory on helping the needy and their names survive till date.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 10

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 10

A man without money is not poor in comparison to a man without knowledge.

A person must walk with his eyes open, must drink clean water, speak words with wisdom, and must perform an action only after thinking about pros & cons.

A crow can eat anything, a poet is capable of imagining anything, a woman can do anything, and a drunkard can say anything.

If you are looking for knowledge then give-up the hope for finding comfort. (Maybe, after getting Wisdom … lol )

Fate plays a significant role in life of a person. It can turn a king to beggar and vice-versa.

A greedy person consider beggars to be his enemy, a woman with loose character considers her husband as enemy and a thief considers moon to be his enemy. In same manner a fool treats the person who advice him.

Chanakya says … who don’t have knowledge, who don’t perform good deeds, don’t do charity, are not kind, lack in politeness, and are not merciful; are not humans, but beasts.

As per Chanakya Niti, it is a waste to advice some foolish person. Your words won’t change the person’s nature. Like the fragrant wind passing through forest of sandal wood does not make any impact on odor of a bamboo tree.

A foolish person cannot gain benefits from a books like a blind man with mirror.

Chanakya says that it better to live in forest with wild beasts, it is better to consume wild berries, it is better to sleep on bed of thorns than living in poverty with your kith and kins.

… One must protect the roots, If the root is destroyed then the tree will fall.

Different kinds of birds come together on a tree to spend night and then fly away in all directions when morning arrives. One most not regret about his or someone’s separation from family.

The power of brain is supreme and strength comes afterwards. You must be aware about the story of a lion who was killed by a rabbit.

The whole world is like a family and Lord Vishnu and Goddess Laxmi are like parents to all of us.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 9

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 9

Need not to mention that Chanakya Niti is a remarkable Book. Below are some of the learnings that can be derived from what is stated in its chapter 9. Have a look …

Any person aiming at deliverance must quit his bad habits and addiction as if they are poison. One must consider tolerance, forgiveness, patience, kindness and trust as nector i.e. include those qualities in life.

People who are not good at keeping their secrets and who use fouls language meet quick destruction. Just like a snake trapped in a mothhill will die for sure.

Lord Brahma create gold without fragrance, did not added sweet fruits to sugarcane, and did not added flowers in sandalwood tree. In same manner he did not granted wealth to scholars and a longer life to kings. It appears as if the advisers in his council are not so good. [Simply a satire ]

It is commonly believed that nector is king of all medicines, food is the most satisfying thing, eye is the queen of all sensory organs, and head is most useful body part.

A student, servant, guard, starving person, and a traveler must be woken up when they are at duty.

One must never disturb them while sleeping. They are tiger, king, child, others dog, serpent, and pig. Let them sleep.

A man who recites scriptures just for making money and who has no problem in receiving alms from lowly people looses his respect permanently. People will begin treating him as an insignificant snake with no venom.

One whose anger does not inspires anyone, pleasing whom does not deliver profit, and one without authority to punish or reward are nothing, but insignificant.

If a snake is non-poisonous, then too it must pretend like one with ability to take life. (You know your weakness, not your opponent. It might fetch you a victory)

Wise men spend their time reading stories of gamblers in morning (Mahabharata), of women in day (Ramayana), and of a thieves at night(Gita by Shri Krishna).

When it comes about worship then one must offer garland made by himself, sandalwood paste rubbed by his own hands, and singing a self crated songs. (Moral is that worship is a personal matter and there is no point in involving a priest in it)

A cane, fool, oilseed, gold, land, woman, pann, and sandalwood become better and better with rubdowns. (discretion is advised) [others will not complain, but some lady might object. Here, by woman Chanakya points towards the quality of a woman to adjust & adapt. ]

Poverty can easily be dealt with patience. Even ordinary clothes appear nice if clean. Food can be consumed if hot and fresh no matter if not tasty. Similarly a good character is of great significance despite the lack of physical beauty.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 8

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 8

Those who desire only wealth belong to lowest class of people. Who desire wealth and respect are above them. The men who desire honor and respect belong to top most class.

Like a lamp consumes darkness and produces soot, in similar manner the offspring of a person reflect the kind of food consumed by him. (Money must be earned from right sources )

O God, wealth must go in hands of good people. Water in sea is saline, but the water in cloud gives life to all living creatures. In same way the money in hands of good person brings happiness to others, while in hands of wicked ….

One foreign invader is filthy as a thousand scavengers.

One must take bath thoroughly after oil massage, hair cut, sex and attending funeral to become pure.

Education will be useless until it is not put to some practical use. The life of an uneducated person is a total waste. Similar is the case with an army without commander and a wife without husband.

It is a great tragedy to a man whose wife passes in old age, whose money is taken by relative, and who lives on food of others.

Studying Vedas without performing Yajna is useless and performing Yajna without charity is also useless. Person’s spirit must be fully committed while performing religious acts.

Idol of God made of wood, stone or metal must be worshiped as if God is really present in it. God blesses according to the faith you have in him.

God is not present in idols and stones. God resides in soul of all people. Where people pray with full devotion God appear there.

No blessing is bigger than peace. No joy is bigger than contentment.There is no religion bigger than mercy. For a man greed is the worse disease.

Anger is like death. Feeling of revenge is like river of agony. Education provides everything to a man and contentedness is a great blessing.

Good qualities enhance beauty of a person, genteelness adds to glory of ones family. Practical implementation is the biggest tribute to education and spending wisely is a great tribute to ones wealth.

A man with beauty, but no talent is useless. A person with ill-manners brings shame to family. Like money not spent wisely is waste, so is the education that cannot be applied.

Following are considered pious; water coming from ground, an honest wife, a king caring for his subjects, and a Brahmin without greed.

Following are most likely to destroy themselves; a greedy Brahmin, a contented (inactive) king, a coy prostitute and shameless woman.

A great dynasty is not great, if is deprived from educated members. If a person of low birth has knowledge and wisdom then he must be respected like/by nobles.

Everyone respects wise men. They are rewarded with honor and money. A person can attain everything through knowledge. It is worshiped everywhere.

The Earth is in great pains as it is being crushed by animals (humans) like drunkards, idiots and uneducated.

Those Yajnas (religious acts) are like enemy which empty food coffers of a nations, are performed by priests not knowing the meaning of sacred verses, and by organizers who don’t do charity.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 7

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 7

If you are facing loss in business, your heart is broken then it will best not to share the information with others. Also, one must not discuss scandals of family and incidence of getting insulted/cheated.

You should be shameless when it comes about learning something, dealing in business and having food.

You are happy only when your mind it at peace; running after wealth is simply an act of foolishness.

One must be satisfied with whatever he has as wife, wealth, and income. Anyhow one must never get satisfied with the knowledge and act of charity.

One must never get in-between two scholars, fire, husband- wife, master-servant, and a plough & Oxen.

Never touch fire, teacher, virgin, baby, and cow with your feet or else you will face quick destruction.

It is considered safe to be five arms away from a bullock cart, ten arms away from a horse, thousand arms from an elephant. Anyhow, a single wicked person will be a threat in whole country.

You require a goad to tame an elephant, a whip to train a horse, and a stick to control your cattle. In similar manner a wicked person cannot be controlled with mere words. (Sword)

A brahmin becomes happy on viewing tasty food, a peacock on listening rumble of clouds. Also, a person with good soul becomes happy on looking happiness of others while an evil person gains happiness from misfortune of others.

One can appease a stronger enemy and can throw an order to a weaker one. Anyhow, when both of you are equal in strength; act wisely.

The power of a king lies in his sword, the power of a scholar lies in his knowledge and that of a woman lies in her beauty.

Swans live in lakes with blue water and leave it when the lake starts drying. Men must not change their residence so often.

Money earned must kept circulating and put to some good use. Just like the water of a pond having inflow and outflow systems is clean. On the other hand Water-logged ponds collect dirt in them.

Money plays a very significant role in human life. On having money the person is given respect, considered wise, and preferred by women.

Men having faith in God, doing charities, serving Brahmins, and with polite nature enjoy heavenly pleasure in real world.

Men having no command on their tone, in company of wicked persons, and in poverty experience hell even being alive.

A tail of a dog cannot protect its shame nor offers any effective protection against ticks and flies. So is the condition of a man with little knowledge.

A person with polite tone, pure-heart, compassionate, and self disciplined nature is one who qualifies for Nirvana.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 6

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 6

The present section includes the points stated by Acharya Chanakya in the 6th chapter of Chanakya neeti. As we all know that Chanakya is well known for his straightforward views, which sometimes appear harsh. Therefore, readers are suggested to use their discretion while enjoying the ideas included below. It must be taken into consideration that philosophy of Acharya Chanakya comes from an era where things were quite different from today. I have no issue in claiming that most of his ideas find relevance in today’s environment as well, but a very few are outdated. So, its time to face some wisdom; have a look over the points stated below:

By listening to the scriptures the person gains knowledge about religion. You can get rid of evil-ideas by talking to a scholar and on following the advice of a guru; you’ll easily reach the door steps of heaven.

Crow is most cunning among birds and a dog is among animals. In sages, the one with short temper is most harmful. Among all, most deadly is the person jealous of you.

A brass pot is purified after treating that with ash and copper by citric. A woman after her periods and rivers after passing through rapids.

A ruler gets fame on visiting different parts of his kingdom, a preacher gets glory by spreading knowledge in foreign territories and same happens with a Yogi traveling distant places. Anyhow, when a woman does something like that then she only meets destruction.

A person with sufficient money make a lot many friends and even more relatives. The interesting part is that he is also considered wise and full of wisdom.

[If money is not everything, then too it’s required for most of the things.]

The kaal [time] consumes every person and everything. It can and it will destroy everything. It’s in action even when you are sleeping. None can escape him.

A person born as blind is unable to see things and similar is the case with people blinded in love. An alcoholic cannot differentiate between good and bad. In same manner a selfish person gets blind under effect of his selfish goals.

A person commits actions and faces the consequence [in this world and in other world ]. Taken births in many forms and after settling everything; merges in Almighty.

A king pays for the sins of his countrymen, royal priest has to pay for the deed of king. A husband has to pay for deed of his wife and a teacher pays for the deeds of his pupils.

A father who leaves leaves debt for children is like an enemy and same principle applies to mother with loose character. Also, a foolish son and beautiful wife become a pain for a man. [double discretion is advised here ]

You can win over a greedy person by offering money, a proud person by covering before him. You can win a foolish by agreeing with him and you can win a scholar by truth only.

It is better not to have a kingdom than having it in bad state. Similarly, it better to have no friends, pupils and wife than having bad ones.

There is no happiness in a kingdom with wicked king; there is no benefit from a deceitful friend. Similarly, there is no happiness in homes where wife quarrel and no benefit from in having bad pupils.

Acharya Chanakya says that every creature has some special qualities from which a human can gain benefit. Below, are a few:
-> Lion: teaches to perform actions wholeheartedly and not not relax until accomplishment of the task.
-> Crane: teaches man to focus and concentrate over the task and act instantaneously upon requirement.
-> Cock: to rise early in the morning, being ready to defend and attack, grabbing ones share and sharing with other.
-> Crow: makes love privately, does not get scared easily, collects things for use in future. is always alert and never trusts anyone.
-> Dog: It can go without food for a while but when finds can overeat in moments. Is alert even in sleep and wakes with slightest sound. It is loyal and fights ferociously when defending his master.
-> Donkey: It works tirelessly and even in harsh weather conditions.

* Chanakya says that any man acquiring those qualities cannot face failure under any circumstance.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 5

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 5

Have a look over the points stated below in chapter 5 of Chanakya Neeti. If not amazed then at-least you’ll be inspired from the chanakya neeti quotes stated below:

Infatuation is the biggest disease and greed is the worst enemy of an individual. Anger is the most damaging fire. Among all possessions knowledge is supreme.

The test for purity of gold is done by rubbing, heating, pounding and cutting. Similarly, the true characteristic of a person are revealed at the time of intense trouble. His manners, voice and actions will reveal a lot about him.

Everyone is likely to face troubles in life and even wise men are also fear from them. Anyhow, the real wise men deal with troubles wholeheartedly and boldly upon their arrival.

Children born from same mother and also under same stars [astrology]; may differ in characteristics. The example is a ber tree having sweet fruits as well as painful thorns on it.

Administrators are corrupt in some manner [at least desire promotion ]. The person who preens is likely to be romantic. A foolish dude can’t be a polite talker and a frank person faces difficulties in telling lies.

Fools are jealous with wise men, poor is with rich. In the same manner prostitutes are jealous of pious ladies.

The best way to sabotage knowledge is to remain idle. Women [men as well!] looking for other man will also face destruction. You cannot gain a good harvest by sowing less seeds and upon execution of commander his army becomes ineffective.

Those persons will be cursed who make fun of knowledge-full people. Who disrespect the rituals stated in scriptures, call a serene person to be a hypocrite and imposter will suffer for sure.

Charity puts an end to poverty, knowledge to ignorance. Good behavior eliminates most of troubles and devotion in god marks an end to all fears.

For a person with absolute knowledge, heaven is of least significance. A true warrior gives a little importance to his life. For a true sage woman is of no use and for a person with control over desire, whole world loses its significance.

Skill is like the best friend in foreign territories. A woman with good nature is truly the best friend of a man. Medicine to a sick person and charity in next world.

Rain over ocean, giving help to capable, lightning lamp in daylight are nothing but the useless acts.

Rain water is purest of all and in same manner Will-power is the mightiest of all powers.

Poor men desire for money. Animals desire power of speech. Men desire for heaven while angels desire for Nirvana.

Truth keeps the earth in its place, truth is responsible for wind to blow. Truth makes sun shine and It’s the primary force for existence of everything.

Money comes and goes, so is the youth. Life goes and goes the soul, Nothing lasts forever. Only thing that stays firm is your faith.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 4

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 4

In chapter four chanakya has stated the following points. Have a look over the following points derived from chanakya neeti …

sons, friends, kith and kin are capable of distracting you. A wise man’s mind cannot be diverted as he knows that his holy acts will ultimately bring blessing to him and his loved ones.

As a mother takes care of every requirement of infants; similarly a saint must deliver spiritual guidance to his followers.

knowledge is like holy kamdhenu and is like a tree that bears fruit in every season. In unknown territories it provides protecting and fetches rewards for you.

Its better to have a worthy son than having hundreds of unworthy ones. Like millions of stars in the sky have no competition with brightness of the moon.

When a dead son is born then the person griefs for a few days, but an unworthy son is a grief for lifetime.

As per Chanakya Neeti, following are most difficult to bear:
living in a village with people of bad character
a quarrelsome wife
a stupid son
eating bad food
to work for an evil family
a widowed daughter

Like there is no profit in raising a barren cow; a son without knowledge or devotion is also useless.

this world is like a hell where a person can get three kinds of reliefs:
a devoted wife
a good son
company of noble persons

A king orders ones, a scholar tells ones and daughter are married ones. Therefore one must be very careful about those.

Meditation is performed best when alone, education by two, singing by three, traveling with four persons, farming with five and for battle many are required.

A good wife is pious, expert at household chores, faithful and never speaks a lie to her husband.

An important verse of chanakya neeti compares following with poison:
a person whose knowledge is confined to books
a meal without appetizer
living life in a community of poor people
an old man marring a young woman

A man must leave a religion without love and compassion, must leave a teacher without knowledge. Also its better to leave a short tempered wife and relatives with no love and respect for you.

A person traveling a lot is likely to get weak/old, same will be the case with a standing tethered horse, a woman lacking love in life and clothes that are frequently exposed to sun.

How is this situation, who are my real friends, how is my home’s condition, what’s my earnings and expenditure, what are my talents and weaknesses …. are the questions that a wise man asks himself all the time?

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 3

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 3


Which family in this world has no blemish? Is there any person who has never fallen ill? Has been somebody who has not been troubled by his bad habits? Can you point a person who has lived happily through his life ? i.e. problems will definitely arrive in life of each and everyone. On should accept this reality and move forward in life.

You can guess the origin of person through his behaviors, his native place via his tone and his food intake by looking at size of his belly.

A wise man educates his sons, marries daughter to a high class family, exploits weaknesses of his enemies and does friendship with people who do good deeds.

If you have an evil person at one side an a snake at other; better opt for the snake as it will bite only for self defense but the wicked person will not spare any chance of hurting you.

A wise king always accompanies wise councils who always stand by his side irrespective of the situation and place.

On doom’s day (pralay) the whole land is submerged by sea, but the men with noble characters have a depth that many seas together can’t fill. That stand still in every good or bad situations.

A stupid person looks similar in appearance like any other human being in spite of being an ass.

As per chanakya neeti … A young person, with handsome face and of a higher family; if remains uneducated is always ignored like a scentless flower.

The beauty of cuckoo bird lies in its tone, that of a lady lies in her loyal affection, of an ugly in his education and for a sage it’s kindness.

Expel an individual to save family, a family to maintain a village, a village for good of the country. (not as bait but for good)

A hardworking person cannot remain poor, person who always keeps god in his mind is unlikely to do sin, a person with peace cannot quarrel. Similarly. a vigilant being has no fear.

Excess of beauty relisted in kidnapping of Sita, extreme ego got Ravana killed, Unnecessary charity caused great troubles to Raja Bali. Avoid extremes!

As nothing is impossible for almighty. Similarly, every place is in reach of a trader, no land is alien for a knowledge-full person and none is stranger to a polite talker.

As a tree laden with scented flowers spreads fragrance in whole forest. A worth son brings glory to whole family, clan and country.

As a dried tree when catches fire burns the whole forest, so is a bad son born in a entire family.

One good son is better than many troublesome sons in a family. The whole family feels comfortable and safe with him.

Chanakya says to use cane over a child only after 5. This can continue for 10 more years. Once the son achieves his 16th; all you can do is to treat him as a friend.

In case of natural disasters, famine and unstoppable enemy invasion; one should run away and save life. (save yourself for another day)

A person having no faith, no wealth and no love simply cannot acquire salvation. He keeps on taking births and dying.

The best place to live is where fools are not honored, grains are stored safely, where husband and wife don’t quarrel. Goddess Laxmi (Goddess of wealth) resides at such locations.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 2

Chanakya Neeti (The Book) - Chapter 2


Have a look over the Ideas of Chanakya included in the second chapter of his famous writing (Chanakya Neeti). The original verses are in Sanskrit and to spread the message I have a attempted a translation to extract the basic ideas included in them. What a great brain he was …

** Readers discretion is advised ***

By working hard you get:
Good food to eat
Capability to digest it
A beautiful wife and happiness with her
Wealth that can be utilized for the good cause

As per chanakya neeti, the person experiences heavenly joy:
Whose son is obedient
Whose wife is faithful
Who is satisfied with his possessions

A true son is obedient to his father and a true father takes care of his son. The quality of a true friend is that he/she must be honest.

Acharya Chanakya suggests that a person must stay away from the people who talk flattery in front of you but tries to harm at your back. Such friendship is like a vial of poison with milk at its top. Simply stay away !

A friend who is no good shall not be trusted, nor trust a friend who has not proven bad. They may reveal your secrets to others when not in good terms with you. Chanakya neeti also advises you not to act foolish under peer pressure.

Don’t speak about your plans as others will try to hinder your regime. The simple suggestion is that you continue with the task without grabbing much attention.

Stupidity is woe and the days of youth are very woeful. Anyhow, living on mercy of others is woe extreme.

Every hill does not contain gems
Every elephant does not possess mani (Gajamukta)
Every place is not a home of some noble
Every forest does not has sandalwood trees

* The moral is that one must act as per demand of situation instead of continuing over assumptions. Also, don’t trust everyone.

A wise person grooms his child carefully because only an educated person with high morale is given true respect in society.

* Throughout Chanakya neeti you will see that Kautilya emphasized a lot over education.

The parents who do not care for the education of their children are their worst enemies. On growing up such children find themselves isolated from the society, Just like a crane in a flock of swans.

Chanakya advises not to overindulge with your child, pupil and students. It will spoil them.

Do not allows a single day of your life to pass away without learning something good/useful.

The following are on self-destruction mode:
The tree on a bank of a river
A woman in house of stranger
A king with stupid/bad/cunning counselors

The powers of :
A scholar is in his knowledge
A king is in his army
A trader is in his money
A servant is in his service.

Chanakya neeti tells you to understand your role and act accordingly.

As people desert a weak king, a prostitute desert's improvised customer and birds leave a withered tree. In same manner the guests must leave the house of host after having food.

One who befriends a person of bad character or lives in company of an evil fellow, undergoes a quick destruction.

The friendship between people of equal status is considered to be best, serving under a king is one of the best employment a person can get, trading is the best occupation and It is best for a lady to stay in the conform's of one's home.

Chanakya Neeti - Chapter 1

Chanakya Neeti (The book) - Chapter 1


Chanakya Neeti (The book) has seventeen chapter. In the section below, I have attempted to showcase the ideas included in the very first chapter. Tried my best to translate the verses in most accurate manner. Yet, there might be few glitches. Have a look over the following:

Chanakya neeti says not to :
Give any advice to a foolish person
try taking care of a woman with loose character
keep company of a sad fellow

as all of them are totally useless.

House having any of the following in them is not well suited for living:
An ill-tempered wife with low morals
A wicked and deceitful friend
A talkative servant with impoliteness in him/her
A venomous snake

A person must save money for the bad days. Anyhow, woman must be protected even at the cost of money you saved…

Chanakya says that money is one of the most significant assets a man must have. It brings you you the honor, support and makes you capable to deal with calamities.

There is no point to live in a country/region where:
You cannot find an employment
Are not respected
Have no friends and well wishers
Cannot find an education

… It will be better to quit such place.

Do not live even for a single day on the places where you cannot find the following five :
Prosperous businessmen
A Brahmin well versed
Soldiers
River
Doctor

A man must leave a place that has:
No fear of law
People having no shame
No clever men
No Spirit of charity
No Art

Test a wife at time when your wealth is lost, a friend in need, relatives at the time of crises and servant on some important mission.

Whoever helps you at the time of illness, misfortune, famines and invasion is your true brother in real scenes.

A person who cannot decide his goal, simply cannot win.

How to Make Money $$

Money is the only thing which matters in this world, all else religion, cast, creed, faith, nationality, exists for this purpose to be achieved, so that the commerce prospers.

How to make more money.

1. There are people who make Rs.5000/- in a month.
For corporate trainings, some companies pay me Rs.5000 an hour.
There are doctors who charge 5 lakh for a 1 hour operation.
An american singer named Adele charges more than 5 crore to sing for an hour.
Question: How do you explain this difference?
Answer: You don't get paid for time, you get paid for the Value you give in return.

2. The Govt. teaches us to demand what we deserve. Hamari Mangey poori Karo. Our Rights...
This is wrong. Nobody gets rich by demanding.
If you get Rs.10,000 a month, and you form a group, demand, sit on strike, you can't make Rs.50,000. You can demand only small increase, you cannot multiply. To multiply your income, start performing better than anybody else. You get rich by becoming the best in what you do, showing results and giving an outstanding performance.

Spend more effort in Improving your Value than the effort you spend in your Job to make money.

3. Make it a habit to always give much more than what is expected from you.
If you want to keep stepping up the corporate ladder, keep getting promotions, here is the most important tip - In whatever you do, whenever you do, put in more effort than is expected, show better results than is expected. Work harder and do it in a pleasing state of mind, do it smiling and love what you do. This will make you unstoppable.

4. Whenever you get a job offer, people usually ask - What will I get? This is bad.
Focus on what you are becoming, not what you are getting. The only way to earn may times is to increase your own value. If the current job is paying good, but your value is not increasing, it is a bad investment.

5. Bad times will Always come, and so will good times.
It is morning now, and soon it will be night. You cannot stop it, at least on this earth. It is summer now and winter will come. Undoubtedly. If you are happy now, bad times will come. If you are sad now, good times will also definitely come. This is life and you cannot change it, this has been so ever since man was born.
What you can and need to change is yourself. Here is what to do in good times - Keep thinking about bad times when you are in good times, save money for the bad times, work harder for the bad times, because for sure, they will come.
When in bad times, just keep thinking of the good times and prepare to make the most of it as soon as it comes.

6. Get yourself into action.
You have to make your powerful mind to obey your commands. Make everything important "A Must Do NOW", instead of a "I should do this soon".

Today is Sunday. Get up, Get some of the things you know you should do done now, and see how satisfied you will feel when you go back to sleep at night today.

How did these companies got their names....

Mercedes
This was actually the financier's daughter's name.

Adobe
This came from name of the river Adobe Creek that ran
behind the house of founder John Warnock.

Apple Computers
It was the favorite fruit of founder Steve Jobs. He
was three months late in filing a name for the
business, and he threatened to call his company Apple
Computers if the other colleagues didn't suggest a
better name by 5 O'clock.

CISCO
It is not an acronym as popularly believed. It is
short for San Francisco .

Compaq
This name was formed by using COMp, for computer, and
PAQ to denote a small integral object.

Corel
The name was derived from the founder's name Dr.
Michael Cowpland. It stands for COwpland REsearch
Laboratory.

Google
The name started as a joke boasting about the amount
of information the search-engine would be able to
search. It was originally named 'Googol', a word for
the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros.
After founders- Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin
and Larry Page presented their project to an angel
investor, they received a cheque made out to 'Google'

Hotmail
Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail
via the web from a computer anywhere in the world.
When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for
the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending
in
'mail' and finally settled for hotmail as it included
the letters "html" - the programming language used to
write web pages. It was initially referred to as
HoTMaiL with selective uppercasing.

Hewlett Packard
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide
whether the company they founded would be called
Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.

Intel
Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new
company ' Moore Noyce'but that was already trademarked
by a hotel chain so they had to settle for an acronym
of INTegrated ELectronics.

Lotus (Notes)
Mitch Kapoor got the name for his company from 'The
Lotus Position' or 'Padmasana'. Kapoor used to be a
teacher of Transcendental Meditation of Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi.

Microsoft
Coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was
devoted to MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally
christened Micro-Soft, the '-' was removed later on.

Motorola
Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his
company started manufacturing radios for cars. The
popular radio company at the time was called Victrola.

ORACLE
Larry Ellison and Bob Oats were working on a
consulting project for the CIA (Central Intelligence
Agency). The code name for the project was called
Oracle (the CIA saw this as the system to give answers
to all questions or something such). The project was
designed to help use the newly written SQL code by
IBM. The project eventually was terminated but Larry
and Bob decided to finish what they started and bring
it to the world. They kept the name Oracle and created
the RDBMS engine. Later they kept the same name for
the company. Yet the full form is Oak Ridge Arithmetic Computer Logical Engine .

Sony
It originated from the Latin word 'sonus' meaning
sound, and 'sonny' a slang used by Americans to refer
to a bright youngster.

SUN
Founded by 4 Stanford Universitybuddies, SUN is the
acronym for Stanford University Network. Andreas
Bechtolsheim built a microcomputer; Vinod Khosla
recruited him and Scott McNealy to manufacture
computers based on it, and Bill Joy to develop a
UNIX-based OS for the computer.

Yahoo!
The word was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in
his book 'Gulliver's Travels'. It represents a person
who is repulsive in appearance and action and is
barely human. Yahoo! Founders Jerry Yang and David
Filo selected the name because they considered
themselves yahoos. Yet the full form is Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle. \m/

Gambling: Understanding the odds in numbers

Our resident statistician looks through the numbers to discover which form of betting gives you the best chance of winning a six-figure sum.

“The next best thing to gambling and winning is gambling and losing.” So said legendary gambler Nick “The Greek” Dandalos, and he would know. Over the course of his playing career he’s thought to have won and lost $500 million.

Gamblers and statisticians share a love of odds, though the stakes on the table couldn’t be more different between the two. But us statisticians are allowed to fantasise a little, so here’s a hypothetical challenge. Let’s say you fancied a Maserati costing $100,000, but sadly you only had a dollar, what form of gambling will give you the best chance of getting the sports car? I’ll even make it a little easier for you by giving you three choices – a punt on the lottery, a flutter on the horses or a spin on the roulette wheel.

While you think about this, you might be surprised to discover how far back our urge for gambling stretches. Devices that embody randomness have been used in leisure for at least 5,000 years. The ancient Egyptians, presumably when nothing good was on television, sat around and played board games in which moves were decided by throwing an astragalus, which is a bone in the heel that can land on one of four sides.

Gambling became so popular that the Romans tried to restrict it to Saturdays. Even the Emperor Claudius played obsessively and wrote a book called How to win at dice. People continued for centuries to make bets and quote odds: in Paris in 1588 you could get 5 to 1 against the Spanish Armada sailing to invade England, although this was probably a ruse by the Spanish.

Calculated risk

What is remarkable is that in all this time, right up until the Renaissance, nobody analysed gambles mathematically. This could be partly because people thought the outcomes were decided by some external force of fate, but it is now thought that the gap between theory and practice was too great, and therefore no-one had the idea of putting a number on chance - in other words calculate probability.

Not until the Chevalier de Mere, it seems. The Chevalier was a very perceptive gambler in Paris in the 1650s, and he reckoned that odds were slightly in his favour of getting a six in four throws of a single dice, but that the odds were slightly against him of throwing two dice and getting a double 6 in 24 throws. By chance (or fate) he brought the problem to two of the smartest mathematicians at that or any other time, Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat. They confirmed that he had a 52% chance of winning the first bet, and a 49% chance of winning the second, so the Chevalier had got it right from what must have been very extensive and expensive experience. 

The Chevalier also presented the mathematicians with the ‘problem of points’ – if a game has to stop before the end, in what proportions should the stake be divided up? A modern counterpart is the Duckworth-Lewis method in cricket, used for allocating runs scored by a team when a match is stopped by the weather – which in England is pretty much all the time. If you thought the game of cricket is difficult to understand, the Duckworth-Lewis method is almost totally incomprehensible to even the most ardent fan. No surprise, then, to hear that statisticians designed it.

After the Chevalier’s time the scientific assessment of odds disappeared for a few centuries, as the 1700s became a golden age of betting on the basis of gut-feelings rather than calculations. It was the time of ‘eccentric wagers’, such as a large sum won by the Count de Buckeburg in 1735 for riding from London to York seated backwards on a horse.

There were also huge bets on cricket matches, and a predictable consequence was the match-fixing scandals that erupted in the early 1800s, with spectators at Lord’s Cricket Ground (the so-called home of the game) bewildered at the sight of two nobbled teams both desperately trying to lose. A reaction followed, with bookmakers being banned from Lord’s in 1817, lotteries banned in 1826, and the Gaming Act of 1845 making gambling debts unenforceable by law. Cricket was turned into the archetypal gentlemen’s game. Until recently, that is. Heavy gambling has again brought match-fixing to the fore; and more worrying is the ability to bet on every minor detail of the match, known as spot-fixing, which has led to high-profile cases of players being bribed to mess up specific bowls.

Playing the odds

So back to the Maserati, and which of the three gambling options would give you the best odds. If you were to buy a single lottery ticket, and if your choice of six numbers matches the five winning balls plus the bonus number (a seventh ball drawn), then this generally wins around £100,000 in the UK (which for arguments sake let’s say is close enough to our dollar target – it will certainly cover the cost of the sports car). The probability of this happening is 1 in 2,330,636, which is about my chance of having a heart attack or stroke in the half-hour it takes for me to go to the shop for the ticket.

What if you were to go for an accumulator on the horses, that is, pick a race meeting with six races, and in each race choose a horse at medium odds of around 6 to 1 against? Then the accumulator, in which the winnings of each race are passed to the next horse, will give you 7×7×7×7×7×7 = $117,000 if they all win. Given a bookmakers margin of, say, 12% for each bet, the true odds may be around 1 in 230,000.

Which leaves the roulette wheel. If you can find a casino to let you bet $1, place it on your lucky number between 1 and 36. When it wins, either leave the $36 there or move it to another number. When that comes up too, move the $1,296 you now have to another number, or leave it where it is – it doesn’t make any difference to the odds, but somehow it seems that the chance increases when the money is moved.  When that comes up you will have $46.656, so move it all to Red, and when that comes up you will have $93,312, almost enough for your Maserati. The chances of this happening, on a roulette wheel with a single zero, are 1/37×1/37×1/37×18/37 = 1 in 104,120.

So roulette easily gives the best chance of getting that shiny Maserati for a dollar.  But given the odds involved, perhaps it’s best to stick there and start saving instead.





src:~http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120606-getting-the-odds-on-gambling/1

In 8 Years, Facebook Changed All We Do Online

In the storm that is Facebook's IPO, we pause to take note of the way the social network has transformed the way we live now.  

 Is Facebook worth the $100 billion or so its pending IPO suggests it is? Who the good gracious knows. But one thing we can all be certain about is how the social network has radically changed people's behavior 

and expectations online in the eight short years since it was a nary more than a twinkle in the eye of its baby-faced founder(s). Those changes have had the monumental impact of facilitating the formation of entirely new industries and dramatically shifting the way brands market themselves online.

There are things we do online today, that we take so much for granted that we forget that some of them didn't exist even as recently as two years ago. And others were so radical they inspired outright rebellions when they were first introduced. And yet all of these things are not only commonplace today, they are the presumed paradigms. To operate any differently would seem downright odd.

If past is prologue, we're confident Facebook will continue to innovate in the years to come, thereby continuing to transform how individuals and businesses interact online and creating a whole new set of economic opportunities. Whether that translates into enough revenue to merit a $38 share price, we'll leave up to the number-crunchers on Wall Street. For now, however, we want to pause in this brief respite before the Nasdaq frenzy slated for tomorrow to pay homage to a few of Facebook's game-changing innovations.

 

The Death Of Email

I was in London last winter, and while walking through a train station, I overheard two people talking about coordinating with a third person. "I'll reach out to him on Facebook," one of them said. When I was in Afghanistan last year, at the rec center of every single military base I was on, anywhere from half to two-thirds of troops were on Facebook. When you only have access to computers for half an hour at a time, Facebook becomes the most efficient way to let friends and family know what you're up to and catch up with their news. When I found out that an old boyfriend had had a kid but hadn't emailed me the happy news, I was momentarily upset until a mutual friend told me, "I think he just posted it to Facebook." The social network has become one of the primary ways that people communicate today. Certainly it hasn't supplanted email altogether, but, globally, it has become the go-to channel for a slew of use cases that used to be managed by email or phone--or simply not communicated at all. So much so that it's spawned an entirely new industry of social networks-for-business, like Yammer, Chatter, Podio, and Edmodo.

-----------

Zuck And Cover

Browse through Fast Company's most in-depth coverage of the Facebook founder.

Zuckerberg graced four Fast Company covers.

May 2007 Instagram wasn’t Zuck’s first experience with $1 billion offers. Five years ago, those offers were for Facebook, the ragtag operation of a college dropout who transformed it into Palo Alto's sweetheart. Read "The Kid Who Turned Down $1 Billion."
March 2010 Two years and 550 million members ago, Zuck was in a good place: Facebook had all but vanquished MySpace. His company was finally making money. And he was ready to take on a new dragon: Google. Read Most Innovative Companies 2010.
November 2011 Facebook is both smaller and younger than Apple, Google, and Amazon, but Zuck's ambitions are huge. And his growing pool of star engineering talent could be enough to put Facebook on top. Read "Why Facebook Will Win" from our "Great Tech War Of 2012" feature.
April 2012 One thing that could have derailed Facebook’s road to Internet domination was Zuck’s lack of experience. Why growing up was the most important thing the “Boy CEO” did to solidify his company. Read "American Idol."

----------

 

Sharing

In the good old days, if you wanted to let friends and family know about something cool you'd found on the web, you'd copy a link to the website into an email and send it off to your nearest and dearest. What a difference two years make. Yes, it's barely two years since Facebook made it possible to slap the Like button onto content on external websites, which in turn has expedited communication about everything from news stories to videos to photos to fundraising appeals, making Facebook the leading referrer of traffic to many content sites, as well as probably being responsible for helping get innumerable Kickstarter campaigns funded.

 

Single Sign-On

Remember the days when you had to produce a unique user name and password for every site you visited on the Internet? Then, remember how freaky it was when all of a sudden sites started inviting you to sign in with your Facebook credentials, and how we were all worried about what that meant about who would suddenly know what about us? And yet, today, we take this system (which has been adopted by others, like Twitter and Google) for granted. And maybe even get a little cranky when we have to set up independent log-in credentials at sites that don't integrate with Facebook. And this system (Facebook Connect) hasn't just made our lives more convenient, it's helped accelerate a whole new industry of apps and websites that have been able to get up and running faster, because they haven't had to build their own identity management systems but instead were able to just plug in to Facebook's (the same way they get up and running faster because they can use Amazon Web Services rather than building out their own server infrastructure).

 

Personalized Ads

Raise your hand if you've had this experience recently: You're watching TV (probably online), and the ads come on. You notice that they're for things you have no interest in, and you actually get a little ticked off. After all, all these sites are now supposed to know so much about you. If that's the case, you grumble, then why are you being shown an ad for a minivan, or a Disney vacation, or any number of products and services you'd never in a million years think of using? Thank the social network for that. It now gives advertisers unprecedented specificity in who they want to reach. That's why, for example, Airbnb will pop up in my right rail when Oracle OpenWorld is in town, asking if maybe I'd like to rent a room to a conventioneer. To which I respond: "You know, that's a pretty good idea…." Suddenly the ads are interesting again.

 

Facebook Pages As Company Websites

Try this: Open up a consumer magazine, like a cooking magazine, for example. Flip through the ads, and make a note of how many list a Facebook URL as their web address, rather than a company website. Remember back when producers of packaged foods or house cleaning products tried to get you to go to their websites? No more. More often than not, they'll send you straight to their Facebook page. The social network has created powerful tools for brands to build excitement (and evangelism) among consumers, and companies are choosing to use those pages as their primary home on the web. Even GM, which provoked a stir earlier this week when it was reported the automaker was killing its $10 million Facebook advertising budget, said it would nevertheless continue to invest in its brand pages--to the tune of $30 million, no less--because, the company said, "it continues to be a very effective tool for engaging with our customers."

 

Searching Gives Way to Discovering

Back in the late '90s, with the arrival of sites like Amazon and Google, commentators bemoaned the loss of serendipity. The web was now a place where you had to know what you were looking for in order to find anything. No longer would shoppers, and others, have the delightful experience of browsing, as they did in real-world stores, or libraries, and tripping across something splendid but thoroughly unexpected. The social network is helping shift the balance back toward discovery. It's increasingly the place, for example, where people discover the news, via links friends share. And it's also making discovery possible on other sites, by giving those sites tools that let their visitors filter content by Facebook friends, whether it's Yahoo, for example, that integrated with Facebook to let you see what your friends are reading on its news sites, or design store Fab, which allows you to browse a feed of items that your friends are buying and favoriting. The result is that the web is increasingly a place for serendipity, facilitated by Facebook and your friends.





src:~http://www.fastcompany.com/1837657/facebook-innovation-how-the-social-network-changed-everything-you-do-in-8-short-years