Chanakya Quotes

He who shall practice these twenty virtues shall become invincible in all his undertakings.

Constant travel brings old age upon a man; a horse becomes old by being constantly tied up; lack of sexual contact with her husband brings old age upon a woman; and garments become old through being left in the sun.

Do not pass between two brahmanas, between a brahmana and his sacrificial fire, between a wife and her husband, a master and his servant, and a plough and an ox.

Your feelings are your god.

If a king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic. If he is reckless, they will not only be reckless likewise, but also eat into his works.

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.

Foolishness is indeed painful, and verily so is youth, but more painful by far than either is being obliged in another person's house.

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.

Good behavior wins even an enemy.

Do not be very upright in your dealings for you would see by going to the forest that straight trees are cut down while crooked ones are left standing.

For good days one should save money, women should be protected even if it takes the money saved. But for self preservation the money and the women should be sacrificed!!

Those parents who do not educate their sons are their enemies; for as is a crane among swans, so are ignorant so are ignorant sons in a public assembly.

The power of a king lies in his mighty arms; that of a brahmana in his spiritual knowledge; and that of a woman in her beauty youth and sweet words.

A person becomes great not by sitting on some high seat, but through higher qualities. A crow does not become an eagle by simply sitting on the top of a palatial building.

Love is indicated by deeds (and not by words)

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.

A learned man is honoured by the people.A learned man commands respect everywhere for his learning. Indeed, learning is honoured everywhere.

Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness.

How well u treat the wicked people, they do nto give up their wickedness. They derive pleasure in hurting others. A serpent made to drink milk, it ejects poison only.

As a single withered tree, if set aflame, causes a whole forest to burn, so does a rascal son destroy a whole family.

No one should ever be disrespected.

Do not put your trust in rivers, men who carry weapons, beasts with claws or horns, women, and members of a royal family.

Chankaya is referring there to the probibition of entry of the untrustworthy in the counsel-room. Disloyal persons foolishly speak out the secrets of the counsel not knowing the harmful effects of the same. Disclosing the secrets of the counsel mars the welfare of the country.

Even a captured enemy is not to be trusted.

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.

Moral excellence is an ornament for personal beauty; righteous conduct, for high birth; success for learning; and proper spending for wealth.

If people of one's own side have good conduct, it adds power to oneself. The misconduct on the contrary render one powerless. The enemy taks advantage of it. A skilled statesman never allows enemy to win over.

A single son endowed with good qualities is far better than a hundred devoid of them.

Fate being unfavorable( or without god's grace, even an easy task becomes difficult to accomplish)

A still-born son os superior to a foolish son endowed with a long life. The first causes grief for but a moment while the latter like a blazing fire consumes his parents in grief for life.

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.

A father who is a chronic debtor, an adulterous mother, a beautiful wife, and an unlearned son are enemies in one's own home.

The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all directions.

Test a servant while in the discharge of his duty, a relative in difficulty, a friend in adversity, and a wife in misfortune.

Trees on a riverbank, a woman in another man's house, and kings without counselors go without doubt to swift destruction.

Once you start a working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest.

People's Fury is above all the furies.

O wise man! Give your wealth only to the worthy and never to others. The water of the sea received by the clouds is always sweet.

For the protection of state and welfare of the people, a ruler shold collect all types of wealth. By suing devices of sama, dama , danda, bheda , he shold increase income of the state, strong administration helps in collecting different type of taxes fro exchequer.

There are three gems upon this earth; food, water, and pleasing words - fools (mudhas) consider pieces of rocks as gems.

A man is born alone and dies alone, and he experiences the good and bad consequences of his karma alone, and he goes alone to hell or the Supreme abode.

Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth.

One who is in search of knowledge should give up the search of pleasure and the one who is in search of pleasure should give up the search of knowledge.

Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.

The ruler should employ person in tasks according to their abilities because Knowers ( or the means ) and efficient employees make impossible tasks also possible.

An enemy should be struck at his weak point.

Either Scholarship or Death will be my refuge.
पाण्डित्यं शरणं वा मे मृत्युर्वा॥

The wise man should restrain his senses like the crane and accomplish his purpose with due knowledge of his place, time and ability.

A friend, even if he be the enemy's son , should be protected.

Prosperity last long for one who acts after proper consideration.

A person or a ruler who executes his plans (of public welfare) after due consideration, the prosperity stands with him for a longer period.

He who runs away from a fearful calamity, a foreign invasion, a terrible famine, and the companionship of wicked men is safe.

The poor wish for wealth; animals for the faculty of speech; men wish for heaven; and godly persons for liberation.

One who is to be pardoned should not be harassed.

Whores don't live in company of poor men, citizens never support a weak company and birds don't build nests on a tree that doesn't bear fruits.

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?

Our bodies are perishable, wealth is not at all permanent and death is always nearby. Therefore we must immediately engage in acts of merit.

Everynbody tries not to reveal his weaknesses, so that he may not be ridiculed. Specially before the enemy. One's weakpoits shold not be revealed. Becaues ohe canstrike on those to ruin us. So one shold remain strong before the enemy.

This sutra enjoins a rule of morality. It says nobody should be disrespected. A man can impress evdrybnody by his virtues. Disrespecting others means downfall of our own virtues. A person who disrespects others, in a way disrespect himself. A virtuous man does not disrespect his friend or vevn his enemy. Disrespect to enemy can investigate him toreact. The best thing is to destroy him completely. For a ruler this is very important.

The house of a childless person is a void, all directions are void to one who has no relatives, the heart of a fool is also void, but to a poverty stricken man all is void.

The earth is supported by the power of truth; it is the power of truth that makes the sun shine and the winds blow; indeed all things rest upon truth.

Low minded people are fraudulent, wicked and chaeat. They shouldnot be trusted. To h ave faith in low minded ones is mistake in policy and useless because they are not trustworthy. An administrator should not invited calamity by trusting the low minded ones.

No deliberation made by a single person will be successful; the nature of the work which a sovereign has to do is to be inferred from the consideration of both the visible and invisible causes. The clearance of doubts as to whatever is susceptible of two opinions, and the inference of the whole when only a part is seen is possible of decision only by ministers. Hence the king shall sit at deliberation with persons of wide intellect.

Considersing the forebearance of a person, Do not harass him.

He who has wealth has friends and relations; he alone survives and is respected as a man.

Every relationship has one or the other motive behind it. Friendship or enemity are not purposeless.Oneness of motive is turned into friendship. While diversity of motive cause enemity. Royal relationships also depend uypon one or theother purpose. But such relatins ar mainly for the welfare of the state.

The beauty of a cuckoo is in its notes, that of a woman in her unalloyed devotion to her husband, that of an ugly person in his scholarship, and that of an ascetic in his forgiveness.

There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth.

The life of an uneducated man is as useless as the tail of a dog which neither covers it's rear end, nor protects it from the bites of insects.

The man who remains a fool even in advanced age is really a fool, just as the Indra-Varuna fruit does not become sweet no matter how ripe it might become.

The foolish wish to speak out what was spoken in secret by the master.

That man who is without religion and mercy should be rejected. A guru without spiritual knowledge should be rejected. The wife with an offensive face should be given up and so should relatives who are without affection.

Everybody has same or the other weakness. This eis also a a general tendency to conceal theee weaknesses. For people may not harm for these, but they will surely ridicule or make fun of. Friendship, of course feigned should be retained with enemy till his weakness is known. Let him remain elated.

Knowledge is lost without putting it into practice; a man is lost due to ignorance; an army is lost without a commander; and a woman is lost without a husband.

The one excellent thing that can be learned from a lion is that whatever a man intends doing should be done by him with a whole-hearted and strenuous effort.

He who look at a woman who is not his wife as a mother; wealth that is not his as dust and all the men as himself ... is a happy man. He, who sees all these things under a different light, is a blind.

He who gives up shyness in monetary dealings, in acquiring knowledge, in eating and in business, becomes happy.

The forest fire burns even tree like sandalwood.

Wealth, a friend, a wife, and a kingdom may be regained; but this body when lost may never be acquired again.

The disgrace of one's people brings sorrow to the Nobel minded.

He who forsakes his own community and joins another perishes as the king who embraces an unrighteous path.

Even a pandit comes to grief by giving instruction to a foolish disciple, by maintaining a wicked wife, and by excessive familiarity with the miserable.

The man who is praised by others is regarded as worthy though he may be really void of all merit. But the man who sings his own praises becomes disgraced though he should be Indra, the possessor of all excellencies.

Although an ass is 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 ass.

The serpent, the king, the tiger, the stinging wasp, the small child, the dog owned by other people, and the fool: these seven ought not to be awakened from sleep.

Fire, even if put on head, burns only.

As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it.

The rain water enlivens all living beings of the earth both movable (insects, animals, humans, etc.) and immovable (plants, trees, etc.), and then returns to the ocean it value multiplied a million fold.

Many a bad habit is developed through overindulgence, and many a good one by chastisement; therefore, beat your son as well as your pupil; never indulge them.

Punishment when awarded with due consideration, makes the people devoted to righteousness and to works productive of wealth and enjoyment.

A good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does, loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night.

Learning is like a cow of desire. It, like her, yields in all seasons. Like a mother, it feeds you on your journey. Therefore learning is a hidden treasure.

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.

If one limb of the body is defected or inflicted with, disease, the whole feels tha pai. Some way if any department, minister or official of the state is faulty, the whole country is effected. An administrator should try hard to curb it.

Offspring, friends and relatives flee from a devotee of the Lord: yet those who follow him bring merit to their families through their devotion.

Poverty, disease, sorrow, imprisonment and other evils are the fruits borne by the tree of one's own sins.

Sometimes coincidentally an unintelligent person can accomplish a task but that does not mean that he is a knower of means and device or is experienced. A ruler should be careful enough to designate other tasks to such persons.

He who lives in our mind is near though he may actually be far away; but he who is not in our heart is far though he may really be nearby.

The learned are envied by the foolish; rich men by the poor; chaste women by adulteresses; and beautiful ladies by ugly ones.

Time perfects all living beings as well as kills them; it alone is awake when all others are asleep. Time is insurmountable.