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
Truthfulness is my mother. Knowledge is my father. Righteousness is my brother. Mercy is my friend. Calmness is my wife. Forgiveness is my son. These are all my kith and kin.
—Chanakya Neeti
Topics: Virtues
The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind.
But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction.
—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
If a person is not of good conduct, his/her beauty is a waste. For a person with bad character, being born in noble family is a waste. If you do not achieve any feat, being educated is a waste. If you do not spend money, having wealth is a waste.
—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
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
Do not be too straight or too soft; straight trees are cut down, but crooked trees remain standing.
—Chanakya Neeti
Do not put your trust in a bad companion nor even trust an ordinary friend, for if he should get angry with you, he may bring all your secrets to light.
—Chanakya Neeti
As gold is tested in four ways by rubbing, cutting, heating and beating – so a man should be tested by these four things: his renunciation, his conduct, his qualities and his actions.
—Chanakya Neeti
The biggest guru-mantra is:
Never share your secrets with anybody.
It will destroy you.
—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
He who neither rouses fear by his anger, nor confers a favor when he is pleased can neither control nor protect.
—Chanakya Neeti
The life of an uneducated man is as useless as the tail of a dog which neither covers its rear end, nor protects it from the bites of insects.
—Chanakya Neeti
What good can the scriptures do to a man who has
no sense of his own? Of what use is a mirror to a blind man?
—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
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
If there is not even a single leaf on the branches of Karir tree, how can the spring season be held responsible? Why should the Sun be blamed if owl cannot see during the day? Is it the fault of cloud if the drops of rain do not fall into the mouth of Chataka bird? Who is able to erase what’s already written by fate on one’s forehead?
—Chanakya Neeti
Topics: Blame
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
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
There is no disease (so destructive) as lust; no enemy like infatuation; no fire like wrath; and no happiness like spiritual knowledge.
—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
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
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
God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple.
—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
Even the one whose qualities are comparable to those of the all-knowing, suffers without patronage. A gem, though precious, requires a gold setting.
—Chanakya Neeti
Teaching one who has no understanding is of no use.
Just as a bamboo does not become fragrant
even though it lives with the sandal wood trees.
—Chanakya Neeti
It is essential for an administrator to cultivate the following: punishing the wicked, rewarding the good, filling up the treasury by right means, impartiality while administering justice, and protection of the dependants.
—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
To have ability for eating when dishes are ready at hand,
to have a mind for making charity when one is prosperous
are the fruits of no ordinary austerities.
—Chanakya Neeti
Moral excellence is an ornament for personal beauty; righteous conduct, for high birth; success for learning; and proper spending for wealth.
—Chanakya Neeti
Charity puts and end to poverty; righteous conduct to misery; discretion to ignorance; and scrutiny to fear.
—Chanakya Neeti
Sinfully acquired wealth may remain for ten years;
in the eleventh year it disappears with even the original stock.
—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
He is a true friend who does not forsake us in time of need, misfortune, famine, or war, in a king’s court, or at the crematorium.
—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
Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.
—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 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
One should make his (every) day productive by studying a verse, or a half of it, or a fourth, or even a single letter of it, and also by generous donations (to the needy).
—Chanakya Neeti
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