Cāṇakya Niti, or Cāṇakya Neeti-sāstra, is an anthology of aphorisms compiled from various Hindu sāstras (treatises) attributed to the first millennium BCE Indian kingmaker, statesman, tactician, and philosopher Cāṇakya.
According to legend, Cāṇakya, also called Viṣṇugupta and Kauṭilya, was born a Brahmin dāsi-putra (“son of a maidservant”) in Takhkhasilā, near Peshawar in present-day Pakistan. He journeyed to Pāṭaliputra (modern-day Patna, in present-day India,) capital of the Nanda Empire, in pursuit of learning. Insulted by the Nanda rulers, he avowed in vengeance to destroy the Nanda lineage.
Cāṇakya discovered a young, spirited, astute companion in Chandragupta Maurya and groomed him for many years. Through him, Cāṇakya masterminded the overthrow of the powerful Nanda sovereigns and installed Chandragupta as the monarch. With Cāṇakya as his counselor, Chandragupta Maurya established the mighty Mauryan Empire and reigned c.321–c.297 BCE. The Mauryan empire hit its zenith during the régime of Chandragupta’s grandson, Emperor Aśoka.
Cāṇakya has been compared to Niccolò Machiavelli in the breadth of his statecraft. And Cāṇakya has been criticized for his ruthlessness and trickery and praised for his profound political wisdom.
Cāṇakya is celebrated for his magnum opus Arthaśāstra (Sanskrit: “The Science of Material Gain,”) a treatise on Indian statecraft, military strategy, and economic policy. Cāṇakya’s nationalist attitudes continue to influence modern India’s sociopolitical philosophy even today.
Cāṇakya’s Neeti-sāstra, a discourse on the ideal way of life, shows his in-depth study of the Indian way of life and the role of every individual in society.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Chanakya Neeti
Sinfully acquired wealth may remain for ten years;
in the eleventh year it disappears with even the original stock.
—Chanakya Neeti
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.
—Chanakya Neeti
Accumulated wealth is saved by spending just as incoming fresh water is saved by letting out stagnant water.
—Chanakya Neeti
Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise counsel keep it secret, being determined to carry it into execution.
—Chanakya Neeti
Those born blind cannot see;
similarly blind are those in the grip of lust.
Proud men have no perception of evil; and
those bent on acquiring riches see no sin in their actions.
—Chanakya Neeti
The biggest guru-mantra is:
Never share your secrets with anybody.
It will destroy you.
—Chanakya Neeti
The elephant is a huge animal. But it is brought under control by just using a iron hook. Darkness is huge and powerful. But is killed by jsut by a small lamp. The mountain is huge and powerful, but a small diamond is used to cut the mountain. It is not useful if you are just huge and physically strong. He who has intellectual brilliance will reign.
—Chanakya Neeti
Generosity, pleasing address, courage and propriety of conduct are not acquired, but are inbred qualities.
—Chanakya Neeti
The elephant has a huge body but is controlled by the ankusha (goad):
yet, is the goad as large as the elephant?
A lighted candle banishes darkness:
is the candle as vast as the darkness.
A mountain is broken even by a thunderbolt:
is the thunderbolt therefore as big as the mountain?
No, he whose power prevails is really mighty; what is there in bulk?
—Chanakya Neeti
He who has no material wealth is not poor, if he has wisdom and learning. But he who has no learning is really fallen in all aspects.
—Chanakya Neeti
Avoid him who talks sweetly before you but tries to ruin you behind your back, for he is like a pitcher of poison with milk on top.
—Chanakya Neeti
Like a single tree laden with fragrant flowers is enough to make the whole forest aromatic, a single good son is enough to bring love and unity to the whole family.
—Chanakya Neeti
One should feel satisfied with the following three things;
his own wife, food given by Providence and
wealth acquired by honest effort;
but one should never feel satisfied with the following three;
study, chanting the holy names of the Lord and charity.
—Chanakya Neeti
Hard work knows no poverty. The one who chants the Lord’s name knows no fall. The one who observes silence knows no quarrel and the one who is alert knows no fear.
—Chanakya Neeti
He whose son is obedient to him, whose wife’s conduct is in accordance with his wishes, and who is content with his riches, has his heaven here on earth.
—Chanakya Neeti
The snake has poison in its fangs,
the mosquito in its forehead,
the scorpion’s poison is in its tail, but the
evil person has poison spread all through his being.
—Chanakya Neeti
Charity puts and end to poverty; righteous conduct to misery; discretion to ignorance; and scrutiny to fear.
—Chanakya Neeti
We should not feel pride in our charity, austerity,
valor, scriptural knowledge, modesty and morality
for the world is full of the rarest gems.
—Chanakya Neeti
He who neither rouses fear by his anger, nor confers a favor when he is pleased can neither control nor protect.
—Chanakya Neeti
We should not fret for what is past,
nor should we be anxious about the future;
men of discernment deal only with the present moment.
—Chanakya Neeti
Though men be endowed with beauty and youth and
born in noble families, yet without education they
are like the flower which is void of sweet fragrance.
—Chanakya Neeti
He who is prepared for the future and he who deals cleverly with any situation that may arise are both happy; but the fatalistic man who wholly depends on luck is ruined.
—Chanakya Neeti
Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years.
For the next five years, scold them.
By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend.
Your grown up children are your best friends.
—Chanakya Neeti
A wicked man may develop saintly qualities in the company of a devotee, but a devotee does not become impious in the company of a wicked person. The earth is scented by a flower that falls upon it, but the flower does not contact the odor of the earth.
—Chanakya Neeti
Although tired, he continues to carry his burden; he is unmindful of cold and heat; and he is always contented; these three things should be learned from the donkey.
—Chanakya Neeti
Of a rascal and a serpent, the serpent is the better of the two, for he strikes only at the time he is destined to kill, while the former at every step.
—Chanakya Neeti
Purity of speech, of the mind, of the senses,
and a compassionate heart are needed by one
who desires to rise to the divine platform.
—Chanakya Neeti
Swans inhabit water bodies and desert the place
when the lake dries up. Man should not do the same, for
he may have to seek the shelter of those whom he deserts.
—Chanakya Neeti
Although sandalwood is cut, it does not forsake its natural quality of fragrance; so also the elephant does not give up sportiveness though he should grow old. The sugarcane does not cease to be sweet though squeezed in a mill; so the man of noble extraction does not lose his lofty qualities, no matter how pinched he is by poverty.
—Chanakya Neeti
Do not keep company with a fool for as we can see he is a two-legged beast. Like an unseen thorn he pierces the heart with his sharp words.
—Chanakya Neeti
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.
—Chanakya Neeti
Just see the plight of the honeybees beating their legs in despair upon the earth. They are Saying to themselves, “Alas! We neither enjoyed our stored-up honey nor gave it in charity, and now someone has taken it from us in an instant”.
—Chanakya Neeti
There are only three gems on earth –
water, food and sweet speech.
They are fools who dig out stones and call them gems.
—Chanakya Neeti
Foolishness is indeed painful, and verily so is youth, but more painful by far than either is being obliged in another person’s house.
—Chanakya Neeti
The serpent may, without being poisonous,
raise high its hood, but the show of terror is
enough to frighten people—whether he be venomous or not.
—Chanakya Neeti
My dear child, if you desire to be free from the cycle of birth and death, then abandon the objects of sense gratification as poison. Drink instead the nectar of forbearance, upright conduct, mercy, cleanliness and truth.
—Chanakya Neeti
Many a bad habit is developed through over indulgence, and many a good one by chastisement.
—Chanakya Neeti
The student, the servant, the traveler, the hungry person,
the frightened man, the treasury guard, and the steward,
these seven ought to be awakened if they fall asleep.
—Chanakya Neeti
Inferior people desire wealth. The mediocre class desires wealth as well as respect. But, great people desire only respect. Respect itself is considered as wealth by great people.
—Chanakya Neeti
The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind.
But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction.
—Chanakya Neeti
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