Chanakya Wisdom Quotes

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

Generosity, pleasing address, courage and propriety of conduct are not acquired, but are inbred qualities. ~ Chanakya

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

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

Little given to brahman in distress compensated abundantly,
Is got back not in equal quantity, but in a way higher degree.
[210] 12.2 Chanakya ~ Munindra Misra

She is a true wife who is clean (suci), expert, chaste, pleasing to the husband, and truthful. ~ Chanakya

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

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

Learning is a friend on the journey; a wife in the house; medicine in sickness; and religious merit is the only friend after death. ~ Chanakya

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

Accumulated wealth is saved by spending just as incoming fresh water is saved by letting out stagnant water. ~ Chanakya

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. ~ Chanakya

The learned has grieve by instructing foolish disciple surely,
As a wicked wife or with the wretched having familiarity.
[4] 1.4 Chanakya ~ Munindra Misra

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

Happy be who generous to relatives, to strangers kindly,
Indifferent to wicked, loving to good, shrewd in dealing be;
Who frank with the learned and courageous with enemy,
Ever humble with elders and stern with his wife does be.
[211] 12.3 Chanakya ~ Munindra Misra

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. ~ Chanakya

A wicked wife, a false friend, a saucy servant begets misery,
As living in a house with a serpent in it begets death surely.
[5] 1.5 Chanakya ~ Munindra Misra

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

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

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. ~ Chanakya

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? ~ Chanakya

At the time of the pralaya (universal destruction) the oceans are to exceed their limits and seek to change, but a saintly man never changes. ~ Chanakya

The cuckoos remain silent for a long time (for several seasons) until they are able to sing sweetly (in the Spring) so as to give joy to all. ~ Chanakya

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

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

The Grhasta blessed if house a bliss, wife speaks sweetly,
If wealth satisfies desire, sons able, enjoys wife's company;
If servants obedient, has hospitality, Lord worshiped daily,
Delicious food, drink shared, finds joy in devotees' company.
[209] 12.1 Chanakya ~ Munindra Misra

Save money for adversity, wife against riches undoubtedly,
But save the soul even against wife and riches invariably.
[6] 1.6 Chanakya ~ Munindra Misra

Where you are not respected inhabit not that country,
You can not earn, have friends and get knowledge truly.
[8] 1.8 Chanakya ~ Munindra Misra

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

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. ~ Chanakya

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

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

Swans live wherever there is water, and leave the place where water dries up; let not a man act so - and comes and goes as he pleases. ~ Chanakya

Save wealth but never assume it removes all calamity,
When riches forsake, amassed stock dwindles rapidly.
[7] 1.7 Chanakya ~ Munindra Misra