Wisdom of Chanakya Pandit - Part Three

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1. ...

2. The heart of a woman is not united; it is divided.

While she is talking with one man, she looks lustfully

at another and thinks fondly of a third in

her heart.

3. The fool (mudha) who fancies that a charming young

lady loves him, becomes her slave and he dances like a

shakuntal bird tied to a string.

4. Who is there who, having become rich, has not

become proud? What licentious man has put an end to

his calamities? What man in this world

has not been overcome by a woman? Who is always loved

by the king? Who is there who has not been overcome by

the ravages of time? What

beggar has attained glory? Who has become happy by

contracting the vices of the wicked?

5. ...

6. A man attains greatness by his merits, not simply

by occupying an exalted seat. Can we call a crow an

eagle (garuda) simply because he sits

on the top of a tall building.

7. ...

8. The man who is praised by others as great is

regarded as worthy though he may be really void of all

merit. But the man who sings his own

praises lowers himself in the estimation of others

though he should be Indra (the possessor of all

excellences).

9. If good qualities should characterise a man of

discrimination, the brilliance of his qualities will

be recognised just as a gem which is essentially

bright really shines when fixed in an ornament of

gold.

10. Even one who by his qualities appears to be all

knowing suffers without patronage; the gem, though

precious, requires a gold setting.

11. I do not deserve that wealth which is to be

attained by enduring much suffering, or by

transgressing the rules of virtue, or by flattering an

enemy.

12. ...

13. Those who were not satiated with the enjoyment of

wealth, food and women have all passed away; there are

others now passing away who

have likewise remained unsatiated; and in the future

still others will pass away feeling themselves

unsatiated.

14. All charities and sacrifices (performed for

fruitive gain) bring only temporary results, but gifts

made to deserving persons (those who are

Krsna consciousness) and protection offered to all

creatures shall never perish.

15. A blade of grass is light, cotton is lighter, the

beggar is infinitely lighter still. Why then does not

the wind carry him away? Because it fears

that he may ask alms of him.

16. It is better to die than to preserve this life by

incurring disgrace. The loss of life causes but a

moment's grief, but disgrace brings grief every

day of one's life.

17. All the creatures are pleased by loving words; and

therefore we should address words that are pleasing to

all, for there is no lack of sweet

words.

18. There are two nectarean fruits hanging from the

tree of this world: one is the hearing of sweet words

(such as Krsna-katha) and the other,

the society of saintly men.

19. The good habits of charity, learning and austerity

practised during many past lives continue to be

cultivated in this birth by virtue of the link

(yoga) of this present life to the previous ones.

20. One whose knowledge is confined to books and whose

wealth is in the possession of others, can use neither

his knowledge nor wealth when

the need for them arises.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

1. The scholar who has acquired knowledge by studying

innumerable books without the blessings of a bonafide

spiritual master does not shine in

an assembly of truly learned men just as an

illegitimate child is not honoured in society.

2. We should repay the favours of others by acts of

kindness; so also should we return evil for evil in

which there is no sin, for it is necessary to

pay a wicked man in his own coin.

3. That thing which is distant, that thing which

appears impossible, and that which is far beyond our

reach, can be easily attained through tapasya

(religious austerity), for nothing can surpass

austerity.

4. What vice could be worse than covetousness? What is

more sinful than slander? For one who is truthful,

what need is there for austerity? For

one who has a clean heart, what is the need for

pilgrimage? If one has a good disposition, what other

virtue is needed? If a man has fame, what is

the value of other ornamentation? What need is there

for wealth for the man of practical knowledge? And if

a man is dishonoured, what could

there be worse in death?

5. Though the sea, which is the reservoir of all

jewels, is the father of the conch shell, and the

Goddess of fortune Lakshmi is conch's sister, still

the conch must go from door to door for alms (in the

hands of a beggar). It is true, therefore, that one

gains nothing without having given in the

past.

6. When a man has no strength left in him he becomes a

sadhu, one without wealth acts like a brahmacari, a

sick man behaves like a devotee of

the Lord, and when a woman grows old she becomes

devoted to her husband.

7. ...

8. There is poison in the fang of the serpent, in the

mouth of the fly and in the sting of a scorpion; but

the wicked man is saturated with it.

9. The woman who fasts and observes religious vows

without the permission of her husband shortens his

life, and goes to hell.

10. A woman does not become holy by offering by

charity, by observing hundreds of fasts, or by sipping

sacred water, as by sipping the water

used to wash her husbands feet.

11 ...

12. The hand is not so well adorned by ornaments as by

charitable offerings; one does not become clean by

smearing sandalwood paste upon the

body as by taking a bath; one does not become so much

satisfied by dinner as by having respect shown to him;

and salvation is not attained by

self-adornment as by cultivation of spiritual

knowledge.

13. ...

14. The eating of tundi fruit deprives a man of his

sense, while the vacha root administered revives his

reasoning immediately. A woman at once

robs a man of his vigour while milk at once restores

it.

15. He who nurtures benevolence for all creatures

within his heart overcomes all difficulties and will

be the recipient of all types of riches at every

step.

16. What is there to be enjoyed in the world of Lord

Indra for one whose wife is loving and virtuous, who

possesses wealth, who has a

well-behaved son endowed with good qualities, and who

has a grandchildren born of his children?

17. Men have eating, sleeping, fearing and mating in

common with the lower animals. That in which men excel

the beasts is discretionary

knowledge; hence, indiscreet men who are without

knowledge should be regarded as beasts.

18. If the bees which seek the liquid oozing from the

head of a lust-intoxicated elephant are driven away by

the flapping of his ears, then the

elephant has lost only the ornament of his head. The

bees are quite happy in the lotus filled lake.

19. A king, a prostitute, Lord Yamaraja, fire, a

thief, a young boy, and a beggar cannot understand the

suffering of others. The eighth of this

category is the tax collector.

20. O lady, why are you gazing downward? Has something

of yours fallen on the ground? (She replies) O fool,

can you not understand the pearl

of my youth has slipped away?

21. O ketki flower! Serpents live in your midst, you

bear no edible fruits, your leaves are covered with

thorns, you are crooked in growth, you

thrive in mud, and you are not easily accessible.

Still for your exceptional fragrance you are as dear

as a kinsmen to others. Hence, a single

excellence overcomes a multitude of blemishes.

 

 

 

 

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