CHANKAYA's brand of wisdom is ageless and immutable. Chanakya expounds his views with amazing foresight and charity. It has a large smattering of pithy Observations on Women, Family Life, Human Relationships, Moral Conduct and Spirituality. His startling prophecies, meaningful reflections on everyday living and heard headed axioms.
The basic purpose of Chanakya-Neeti is to impart knowledge on every practical aspect of life.
1. What can all the scriptures do for a person devoid of his own wisdom? What use a blind man has for a mirror?
2. All sermons are wasted on a person devoid of wisdom. Even if grown in the Malayaachal (the area abounding with sandal trees) the bamboo cannot become the sandalwood!
3. The mean aspire only for wealth, the mediocre yearn for wealth and honor both while the nobles care only for honor. The real treasure of great men is only honor.
4.Virtues gleam more when they are in a wise person like a gem adding to the beauty when embedded in gold.
5. It is virtues which enhance one's stature and not the high position. Even if perched atop a royal palace, a crow cannot become Gaur (the Aquila bird of mythological origin, believed to be the lord of the birds).
6. An uneducated person is useless even if he might be belonging to a renowned family. A scholar, despite belonging to a lowly rated family, is adored by even the gods.
7. A student desirous of getting education must shun the following eight activities; sexual intercourse, gratification of the tongue, showing anger and greed, caring for personal beautification, moving about the fair and fate for entertainment, excessive sleeping and indulging in anything excessively. [In short Chanakya says that for getting education the student must perform a rigorous penance complete with all the severe austerities. He who tries to get education in comfort fails to get it in reality and vice verse.]
8. If one craves for comfort, then he should drop the idea of studying and if one wants to study sincerely then he should stop craving for comfort. One cannot get comfort and education simultaneously.
9. An educated man- a scholar gets accolades from all and earns reputation in the society. Since education helps one get everything one desires in life it is adored everything.
10. Although the foolishness (of the self) and (insurmountable) youthful exuberance cause grief yet the greatest grief is caused by one's (forced) stay at other's house.
11. Death of wife in the old age, money under-brother's control and the dependence on others for daily bread cause a great anomaly, hence grief in one's life.
12. Residence in the village of wicked persons service to lowly family, un-nourished foul speaking wife, foolish sons, widowed daughter all, these incinerate the body even without fire.
13. Separation from the beloved, insult by the close relations, unpaid debt, service to a wicked king poverty and association of the crooked persons incinerate the body even without fire.
14. Uncontrollable sexual craving is the most deadly disease; ignorance and infatuation are the most deadly foes, wrath is the most deadly fire and knowledge of the self is the happiness supreme.
15. The nectar of satisfaction be getting peace and happiness cannot be available for the people hankering after material after material riches and physical pleasures.
16.Away from home, in the foreign strand, one knowledge is one's best friend, inside home one's wife is one's best friend. For a patient the best friend is efficacious medicine while after death one's Dharma (Religion) is one's best friend.
17. A father bequeathing the loan; a mother of loose morals; a wife extremely beautiful and a foolish son- all should be deemed as enemies.
18. Those parents who don't take interest in their son's education (or who don't provide him with good education) are verily his enemies. An uneducated man among the educated ones looks as a crow among the swans.
19. Do not hesitate in getting nectar even from poison if it be available and gold even from the filth. Accept good knowledge even from a pariah and good girl even from a low family.
20. A wise man shouldn't hesitate marrying an UN-beautiful girl, if she happens to be belonging to a reputed, good family. But even if a girl be extremely beautiful, the wise man shouldn't marry her if she be from a lowly, ill-reputed family, for matrimonial alliance is best established between the families of equal status.
21. Women have a knack of talking to one man, casting an askew glance at other and loving secretly a third man. They can't devotedly love just one man.
22. A woman is by nature liar courageous deceitful, foolish, greedy impious and cruel. These are the innate attributes of a woman
23. (In comparison to a man) A woman has double of appetite, four times more shyness, six times more courage and eight times more the sexual desire.
24. Like gold is tested by rubbing; cutting, heating and beating so also man is tested by his sacrifice, moral conduct, innate qualities and his actions.
25. It is better for a foolish son to die early rather than survive long, because by dying he would give sorrow only once but by surviving he would cause grief sorrow every moment of his survival by his repeated acts of foolishness. A worthless son is better dead than alive.
26. What value is of that cow which neither conceives nor gives milk? The same way what worth is of that who is neither educated nor devoted to God?
27. Just one dry tree on catching fire, can burn the whole orchard to ashes, similarly, one incompetent, bad son ruins the entire family.
28. One worthy son is better than a hundred incompetent and useless sons. The moon also is capable of destroying the darkness which even thousand of stars fail to achieve.
29. No use producing many sons causing worry and sorrow. One worthy son is enough who may support the entire family.
30. One well blossomed and sweet smelling flower is enough to turn the whole garden fragrant. Similarly, one worthy son is enough to bring glory to the whole family.
31. A wise, well educated and worthy son alone is enough to bring glory to the family like the lonely moon is enough to benighted the night with charms.
32. Rear up your son affectionately till he is five year old then admonish him strictly for next ten years. When he turns sixteen, start treating him as your friend.
33. The wife of the king, the wife of the guru (teacher), the wife of the friend, the mother of wife and one's own mother- these five ladies deserve the status of mother.
34. One should always be satisfied (i) with his wife,(ii) with his diet and (iii) with his wealth; but never with (i) his studies, (ii) his austerity and penance and (iii) with his donations and gifts to the deserving persons.
35. If you want to overpower the entire world merely by just one action, then put restraint upon your tongue speaking ill of others.
36. No penance is greater than the one done for maintaining peace no happiness is better than the one received from satisfaction no disease as more damaging than greed and Dharma (religion) is better than the one having compassion for all.
37. If you want to overpower the entire world merely by just one action, then put restraint upon your tongue speaking ill others.
38. Even if the destination or the desired object be far away or difficult to achieve one can reach it or get it if one is determined. Nothing is impossible for a determined person.
39. Bondage is indulgence in vices and renunciation of them is liberation. Thus it is mind which drives one to bondage or to liberation.
40. One gets everything according to one's destiny. One's action, response, reaction- all are guided by the factors of destiny.
41. Truth stabilizes the world, makes the sun shine and the wind blow. Truth establishes well everything in life.
42. Death is away till one's body is healthy. Hence one should achieve one's welfare till one is healthy, for death ceases all activities.
43. Who gets all that one aspire for? Everything one gets is what is destined for one. Hence all must seek satisfaction in whatever they receive.
44.It is one's fate that makes a beggar a king or a king a beggar, a rich man a pauper or a pauper rich.
45. Age, profession, financial status, level of education and death-these five basic parameters of human life are ordained when the being is in the embryonic form.
46. It is after the constant practice of many lives that man attains to the capacity to learn, to do penance or to dole out alms.
47. Poverty, disease, grief, bondage and all the infatuation addictions are the fruits of the tree of sin of the person.
48. Like a calf finds the mother-cow even if there be thousands of cows, so the consequence of an action searches its doer unerringly.
49. All riches, vitality, life and body are fickle and fey; only the Dharma (Religion) is constant and everlasting.
50. God dwells not in the wooden, or stony or earthen idols. He abode is in our feelings, our thoughts.
51. Riches, vitality, life, body-all are fickle and fey; only Dharma is constant and everlasting.
