चाणक्य नीति दसवां अध्याय:-Chanakya Niti chapter 10.
अथ वृध्द चाणक्यस्योत्तरार्ध्दम् ।
धनहीनो न हीनश्च धनिकः स सुनिश्चयः ।
विद्यारत्नेन हीनो यः स हीनः सर्ववस्तुषु ।।१।।
Meaning– One destitute of wealth is not destitute, he is indeed rich (if he is learned); but the man devoid of learning is destitute in every way.
शास्त्रपूतं वदेद्वाक्यं मनःपूतं समाचरेत् ।।२।।
Meaning– We should carefully scrutinise that place upon which we step (having it ascertained to be free from filth and living creatures like insects, etc.); we should drink water which has been filtered (through a clean cloth); we should speak only those words which have the sanction of the satras; and do that act which we have carefully considered.
सुखार्थीनः कुतो विद्या सुखं विद्यार्थिनः कुतः ।।३।।
Meaning– He who desires sense gratification must give up all thoughts of acquiring knowledge; and he who seeks knowledge must not hope for sense gratification. How can he who seeks sense gratification acquire knowledge, and he who possesses knowledge enjoy mundane sense pleasure?
मद्यपाः किं न जल्पन्ति किंन खादन्ति वायसाः ।।४।।
Meaning– What is it that escapes the observation of poets? What is that act women are incapable of doing? What will drunken people not prate? What will not a crow eat?
धनिनं निर्धनं चैव निर्धनं धनिनं विधिः ।।५।।
Meaning– Fate makes a beggar a king and a king a beggar. He makes a rich man poor and a poor man rich.
जारस्त्रीणां पतिः शत्रुश्चौराणां चन्द्रमा रिपुः ।।६।।
Meaning– The beggar is a miser’s enemy; the wise counsellor is the fool’s enemy; her husband is an adulterous wife’s enemy; and the moon is the enemy of the thief.
ते मृत्युलोके भुवि भारभूता मनुष्यरूपेण मृगाश्चरन्ति ।।७।।
Meaning– Those who are destitute of learning, penance, knowledge, good disposition, virtue and benevolence are brutes wandering the earth in the form of men. They are burdensome to the earth.
मलयाचलसंसर्गान्न वेणुश्चन्दनायते ।।८।।
Meaning– Those that are empty-minded cannot be benefited by instruction. Bamboo does not acquire the quality of sandalwood by being associated with the Malaya Mountain.
लोचनाभ्यां विहीनस्य दर्पणः किं करिष्यति ।।९।।
Meaning– What good can the scriptures do to a man who has no sense of his own? Of what use is as mirror to a blind man?
अपानं शतधा धौतं न श्रेष्ठमिन्द्रियं भवेत् ।।१०।।
Meaning– Nothing can reform a bad man, just as the posterious cannot become a superior part of the body though washed one hundred times.
आप्तद्वेषाद्भवैन्मृत्युः परद्वेषाध्दनक्षयः ।राजद्वेषाद्भवेन्नशो ब्रह्मद्वेषात्कुलक्षयः ।।११।।
Meaning– By offending a kinsman, life is lost; by offending others, wealth is lost; by offending the king, everything is lost; and by offending a brahmana one’s whole family is ruined.
Meaning– It is better to live under a tree in a jungle inhabited by tigers and elephants, to maintain oneself in such a place with ripe fruits and spring water, to lie down on grass and to wear the ragged barks of trees than to live amongst one’s relations when reduced to poverty.
तस्मात् मूलं यत्नो रक्षणीयम् छिन्ने मूले नैव शाखा न पत्रम् ।।१३।।
Meaning– The brahmana is like tree; his prayers are the roots, his chanting of the Vedas are the branches, and his religious act are the leaves. Consequently effort should be made to preserve his roots for if the roots are destroyed there can be no branches or leaves.
बान्धवा विष्णु भक्ताश्च स्वदेशे भुवनत्रयम् ।।१४।।
Meaning– My mother is Kamala devi (Lakshmi), my father is Lord Janardana (Vishnu), my kinsmen are the Vishnu-bhaktas (Vaisnavas) and, my homeland is all the three worlds.
प्रभाते दिक्षु दशसु का तत्र परिवेदना ? ।।१५।।
Meaning– (Through the night) a great many kinds of birds perch(Sit and rest) on a tree but in the morning they fly in all the ten directions. Why should we lament (Expression of sorrow) for that? (Similarly, we should not grieve when we must inevitably part company from our dear ones).
वने हस्ती मदोन्मत्तः शशकेन निपातितः ।।१६।।
Meaning– He who possesses intelligence is strong; how can the man that is unintelligent be powerful? The elephant of the forest having lost his senses by intoxication was tricked into a lake by a small rabbit. (this verse refers to a famous story from the niti-sastra called pancatantra compiled by the pandit Vishnusharma 2500 years ago).
नो चेदर्भकजीवनाय जननीस्तन्यं कथं निःसरेत् ।।
इत्यालोच्य मुहुर्मुहुर्यदुपते लक्ष्मीपते केवलम् ।
त्वत्पदाम्बुजसेवनेन सततं कालो मया नीयते ।।१७।।
Meaning– Why should I be concerned for my maintenance while absorbed in praising the glories of Lord Vishwambhara (Vishnu), the supporter of all. Without the grace of Lord Hari, how could milk flow from a mother’s breast for a child’s nourishment? Repeatedly thinking only in this way, O Lord of the Yadus, O husband of Lakshmi, all my time is spent in serving Your lotus feet.
यथा सुधायाममरिषु सत्यां स्वर्गड्गनानामधरासवे रुचिः ।।१८।।
Meaning– Although I have special abilities in Devvani, I still have the greed for interpreting. Just as a good thing like nectar is present in heaven, yet the gods are interested in drinking the devils of devangans.
पयसोऽष्टगुणं मांसं मांसाद्दशगुणं घृतम् ।।१९।।
Meaning– There is ten times the strength in the grain compared to the standing grain. Milk has ten times the strength in milk. Milk has an insignificant force of ten times that of meat.
घृतेन वर्ध्दते वीर्यं मांसान्मासं प्रवर्ध्दते ।।२०।।
Meaning– Disease is caused by herb, body with milk, semen from ghee and growth of meat from meat.