Want to be successful, try applying these law in life....

48 laws of Power 

The Laws

1. Never outshine the master.
2. Never put too much trust in friends; learn how to use enemies.
3. Conceal your intentions.
4. Always say less than necessary.
5. So much depends on reputation. Guard it with your life.
6. Court attention at all costs.
7. Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit.
8. Make other people come to you; use bait if necessary.
9. Win through your actions, never through argument.
10. Infection: avoid the unhappy and unlucky.
11. Learn to keep people dependent on you.
12. Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim.
13. When asking for help, appeal to people's self-interests, never to their mercy or gratitude.
14. Pose as a friend, work as a spy.
15. Crush your enemy totally.
16. Use absence to increase respect and honor.
17. Keep others in suspended terror: cultivate an air of unpredictability.
18. Do not build fortresses to protect yourself. Isolation is dangerous.
19. Know who you're dealing with; do not offend the wrong person.
20. Do not commit to anyone.
21. Play a sucker to catch a sucker: play dumber than your mark.
22. Use the surrender tactic: transform weakness into power.
23. Concentrate your forces.
24. Play the perfect courtier.
25. Re-create yourself.
26. Keep your hands clean.
27. Play on people's need to believe to create a cultlike following.
28. Enter action with boldness.
29. Plan all the way to the end.
30. Make your accomplishments seem effortless.
31. Control the options: get others to play with the cards you deal.
32. Play to people's fantasies.
33. Discover each man's thumbscrew.
34. Be royal in your fashion: act like a king to be treated like one.
35. Master the art of timing.
36. Disdain things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best revenge.
37. Create compelling spectacles
38. Think as you like but behave like others.
39. Stir up waters to catch fish.
40. Despise the free lunch.
41. Avoid stepping into a great man's shoes.
42. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.
43. Work on the hearts and minds of others.
44. Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect.
45. Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once.
46. Never appear perfect.
47. Do not go past the mark you aimed for; in victory, learn when to stop.
48. Assume formlessness.

This is actually a book and the stories associated to these rules are the best part. I think Fiddy (50 Cents) wrote something similar as a sequel to this.

Screw Fiddy 50 Cent, I learned about all of these when I was a kid from my grand father and my uncles during those days when Doordarshan was showing Mahabharat on Sunday mornings. You guys remember those days? In my mamaghar, there used to be such great debates on this topic. I miss those days of my childhood.

East or West, Mahabharat is the best!

48 Laws of Power taught in the Mahabharat:

1. This was Eklavya's mistake. Eklavya outshone Arjun in the art of archery. Dronacharya was so intimidated by Eklavya's skills, he asked Eklavya's thumb as guru dakchhin, just so he was not a threat to Arjun.

2. There are many examples of this in the Mahabharat.

3. Maharaj Yudhisthir did not conceal his intentions. That is why people knew about his weakness of gambling. And they also knew about his weakness to always be honest. A politician cannot afford to always be honest.

4. Krishna in the Mahabharat is an expert at this.

5. Many examples of how attacks on reputations caused the Mahabharat war--
Draupadi laughing at Duryodhan "Ha ha ha, blind son, like blind father."
Duhshashan laughing at Draupadi "You are a whore with five husbands."
Pandavas putting Karna down, "You are a son of a commoner, you are not royalty"

6. Shakuni was a master in making his political agenda for Duryodhan the main focus in Hastinapur, even though there were many other pressing matters. That is what made Shakuni a master politician.
 
7. Duryodhan manipulated the politics of the situation in the Mahabharat so well he had people fighting in his army who had no business getting involved.

8. The gambling match in Mahabharat is a great example of this. Duryodhan and Shakuni baited Yudhisthir in a gambling match that was rigged.

9. Krishna was a master at this. Many examples of this all over the Mahabharat.

10. This is why many avoided Ashwaththama in the end.

To be continued........... 

I'm sure you you guys can think of other examples, no?

 And before our good hearted participants believe that they HAVE to follow these 48 rules or they will be unsuccessful, let me point out that there's another way to look at it.

The following amazon comment on the book from which this list appears, sums it up succintly.

Short version - Watch out for them modafockas who think like the 48 things list :

In one's life, you're better off following the teachings of Moses, Jesus, or Buddha to gain long-term happiness. But the sad fact is, many people live by a very different set of rules, and while most of these folks eventually self-destruct, they can inflict severe damage on our personal and professional lives in the process.
48 Rules of Power is a good primer for learning how these people think. I've spotted a number of similar books in the Business section (like "Career Warfare" and classics like the "Art of War") of my local bookseller, but none put things quite as succinctly as this one. In today's predatory work culture, with good jobs (read: jobs that let you own a home and pay all the bills month to month with a little left over) becoming harder and harder to find, you almost certainly will be the target of these techniques at some point. A friend once made an innocent and extraordinarily minor faux pas at an office Christmas party, and had a homicidal CEO attempt to destroy his future using methods as varied as slander and identity theft, all done through middle manager proxies to keep his own hands clean. You need to read books like these to know how too many people at the top think. But don't live out some of these rules in real life (e.g., crush your enemy completely) - there'll always be someone who does it better, and you will get crushed. Martha Stewart got hers, so don't think you're going to smash people and live to tell the tale. Reality simply doesn't work that way - and even if you survive professionally, the spiritual rot and personal decay will leave you an isolated, paranoid wreck. Read this book in the spirit of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, in which a master demon gives advice to a protege on how to destroy mortals. Learn how to spot people who live like this - and then stay very, very far away. Jesus said, "Be wise as serpents but innocent as doves." This book, read in the right spirit, will help you with both.

Cacophonix,

But you can clearly see San's endorsement of this book by the 'like' on the original post. How could you possibly be as successful as he is without being a fanatic practitioner of the 48 laws of power?

Khate,

Interesting question.

Whereas the yester-year is strewn with incidents about how public opinion has been gained by melting hearts with eloquent speeches, today's world is less trusting of those speeches. And its not just by chance, its the repeated verbal rape by politicians who promise one thing and the next thing you know, they put something up your ass. And its this ring of untrust that is outwardly propelling at a steady speed, gaining momentum and converts with its seemingly infallible logic and almost instantaneous gratification. 

So it seems that it is necessary to embrace the brother of evil in order to survive. Selling your soul to the devil is now something desirable. People dont want to vote Ron Paul because he is too honest :) Honesty is now a bad trait in a leadership position. 

Will we ever see the light? Is all hope nowandforth dead?

It might relieve you to know that although we may percieve that the world around us is growing more and more evil, it has always been this way. The only difference is we are getting more aware of it, which is, believe it or not, a good thing. That's one possible downside of children being shielded from the rest of the world. Some grow into pessimists when faced with the real world. 

We came through the Dark Ages, past the Middle Ages, survived the Industrial and Social Revolutions of the 1700-1800s and have set foot on the frigging moon. We are, historically, at the highest we have ever been. There is both good and bad in the world and we have to realize to see both, not just focus on one, because Bad without good loses its meaning, and vice versa.

Sorry for the rant Khate, I know your post was sarcastic. I don't know what you and San have going on between you but I hope you can settle your differences. It's not his fault that he has to act a little dictatorial around here. That's because our community isn't what you could call a self-governing community :) I'm sure you've been around for a while. If there was an election, who would you nominate for the public seats from here? ;)

Cheers!

Cacophonix,

Really appreciated your reply. You write well. Please write more. Your contribution and perspective is much appreciated.

Here is my opinion of how San Pradhan's 48 Laws of Power have contributed to Nepal being in the state that it is currently in:
http://sajha.com/sajha/html/index.cfm?threadID=94801&refresh=1

Hey Cacophonix,

How do you think the 48 laws of power could help this person in this thread:
http://sajha.com/sajha/html/index.cfm?threadid=94792

Do you think if he read it, it would scare the sh*t out of him knowing that there were people walking around with a really scary philosophy and that if he didn't get his act in order they might eat him up alive?

Hey Babal Khate,

Merely "Liking" a post does not mean that I endorse, recommend or support the whole content. As far as I understand it was something to be taken lightly and not interpreted in all seriousness. In fact it was the first time I read it, and I found it to be interestingly funny in a sarcastic and ironic way. That's why the "like"  

I certainly don't take it as "San Pradhan's 48 Laws of Power" as you have erronously interpreted, and even quoted beyond this thread that's why I wanted to set the records straight

You have even hinted that I am a successful person and it put a smile on my face because 'success' is a very subjective property based on your own individual goals and aspirations. What you may deduce as success may not be everyone's definition of success. Specifically our aquantance here is based on me running this website - as a hobby - I might add. Running a popular website does not make one successful. All it does is give me an outlet for whatever little creativity or understanding that I have of the world wide web, to put into use, that has, and can help out fellow Nepalese or fellow human beings.

Although I  don't consider myself successful in any ways, (although I might consider myself a content person), I will take your words as a compliment.

As our good friend Cacophonix indicated, " I don't know what you and San have going on between you but I hope you can settle your differences", clearly you perceive that there is some kind of difference to settle. Most of the time I can tell why someone has a difference, like few banned people calling me several names to console themselves, but in your case all I could come up with was an anecdote.

One of my neighbors had asked me to paint my house yellow and to plant some flowers in the front yard. I truely respected and appreciated his concern but I felt it was not needed at the present since I already had some other plans brewing up. I didn't realize the good neighbour would take things personally for not listening to him. I didn't know what to do except to wish him well and thank him again for all his good intentions for me and my house.

Same way, all the differences that I can remember is you suggesting and recommending me to change sajha in a certain way and I expressed my inability to do so, and I sense a little discontent. Please be assured that it is nothing personal. I appreciate your participation in sajha and I hope at some point in time I may implement your suggestions.

Best Regards

Dear San Dai,

First of all, let me say that differences do not have to be a bad thing as long as our goal is the same. I want sajha-ites to have a high quality experience. You want sajha-ites to have a high quality experience. That is our greater goal. We may disagree on exactly how to go about that, and that is ok. I would like to think that our differences make us a stronger 'team' because we bring different perspectives to the table.

I took offence to your endorsement of this particular thread because you are, whether you consider yourself to be or not, one of the most respected members of the sajha family. As such, I'm sorry to say, but you don't have the luxury of tossing around your opinion as wildly about as some of the newer and less respected members in the sajha family. Your opinion carries weight with a lot of us. It certainly does with me. 

I find your opinions to be very well thought out and intelligent. You are very articulate and your point of view and judgment quite rational. I look up to you. Because of my respect for you, your point of view tends to affect me.

I take a lot of time to understand the opinion of those I respect. If I didn't respect you, I wouldn't give a damn,

BABAL Khate

P.S As far as the 48 laws of power is concerned, thanks for setting your 'like' in context. I don't want the younger members in sajha to over-value it's content because they consider it to be 'San Dai's Holy Bible.'