Chanakya Quotes

#1. Brass is polished by ashes; copper is cleaned by tamarind; a woman, by her menses; and a river by its flow.

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#2. 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.

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

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#4. The demerits of our own people bringh infamiy. Their disgrace is our own disgrace. That is why infamy os such people relly hurts . It is desifrable that the ruler or the administrator may work in a way that such disgraceful conduct may not occur.

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#5. 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.

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

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#7. 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.

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#8. 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.

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#9. As a whole forest becomes fragrant by the existence of a single tree with sweet-smelling blossoms in it, so a family becomes famous by the birth of a virtuous son.

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

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#11. 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

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#12. Time perfects men as well as destroys them.

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#13. 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.

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#14. As a calf follows its mother among a thousand cows, so the (good or bad) deeds of a man follow him.

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#15. A ruler wishing to win shold not trust a cpterued enemy even if he may be extending had to be friend. Because deep rooted enemity, however, concealed, will ruerely come to light.

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

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#17. 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.

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#18. What good is a cow that neither gives milk nor conceives? Similarly, what is the value of the birth of a son if he becomes neither learned nor a pure devotee of the Lord?

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#19. People's Fury is above all the furies.

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#20. Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise council keep it secret being determined to carry it into execution.

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

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

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#23. If one has a good disposition, what other virtue is needed? If a man has fame, what is the value of other ornamentation?

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#24. 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.

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#25. 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.

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#26. 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.

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

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#28. 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.

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#29. 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.

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

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#31. Do not say, What what fear has a rich man of calamity.

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#32. He who loses his money is forsaken by his friends, his wife, his servants and his relations; yet when he regains his riches those who have forsaken him come back to him. Hence wealth is certainly the best of relations.

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

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#34. He shall despise none, but hear the opinions of all. A wise man shall make use of even a child's sensible utterance.

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#35. Skills are called hidden treasure as they save like a mother in a foreign country.

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#36. A thing may be dreaded as long as it has not overtaken you.

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#37. 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.

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#38. Your feelings are your god.

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#39. Sinfully acquired wealth may remain for ten years; in the eleventh year it disappears with even the original stock.

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

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

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#42. Till the enemy's weakness is known , he should be kept on friendly terms.

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#43. The low minded are fond of deception the nature of low-minded people never changes.

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

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#45. 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!!

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#46. Even as the unborn babe is in the womb of his mother, these five are fixed as his life destiny: his life span, his activities, his acquisition of wealth and knowledge, and his time of death.

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#47. The forest fire burns even tree like sandalwood.

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#48. 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.

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

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#50. No one should ever be disrespected.

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#51. Even a captured enemy is not to be trusted.

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

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#53. 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.

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#54. 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.

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#55. They (low-minded) ones should never be trusted.

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#56. An egoist can be won over by being respected, a crazy person can be won over by allowing him to behave in an insane manner and a wise person can be won over by truth.

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

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

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#59. 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.

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#60. Prosperity last long for one who acts after proper consideration.

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#61. 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.

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#62. 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.

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

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

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#65. Svanaja includes in itself the whole subject, officials and ministers. If there is something wrong in the conduct of these people, it would be damaging the state. An administrator should strictly deal with it.

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

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#67. No amount of advice change his attitude. He does not listed to good advice. Rather he gets angry.

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#68. A wise man should marry a virgin of a respectable family even if she is deformed. He should not marry one of a low-class family, through beauty. Marriage in a family of equal status is preferable.

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#69. Who realises all the happiness he desires? Everything is in the hands of God. Therefore one should learn contentment.

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#70. Save your wealth against future calamity. Do not say, "what fear has a rich man of calamity?" Wealth sometimes vanishes away and large accumulations perish.

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#71. 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.

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#72. 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.

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#73. We should not feel pride in our charity, austerity, valour, scriptural knowledge, modestyandmorality for the world is full of the rarest gems.

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#74. As long as your body is healthy and under control and death is distant, try to save your soul; when death is immanent what can you do?

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#75. 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.

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#76. 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.

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#77. 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.

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#78. 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.

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#79. Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead.

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#80. Let not a single day pass without your learning a verse, half a verse, or a fourth of it, or even one letter of it; nor without attending to charity, study and other pious activity.

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#81. 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.

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#82. 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.

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#83. There is no enemy like infatuation and fire like wrath.

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#84. 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.

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

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#86. 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.

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#87. The king shall lose no time when the opportunity waited for arrives.

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#88. Good behavior wins even an enemy.

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#89. It is better to be without a king than to have a bad one.

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#90. It is narual for enemy to attack on the weaker side of the adversary.

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#91. He who has wealth has friends.

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#92. Eschew wicked company and associate with saintly persons. Acquire virtue day and night, and always meditate on that which is eternal forgetting that which is temporary.

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#93. 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.

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#94. Whoever imposes severe punishment becomes repulsive to the people; while he who awards mild punishment becomes contemptible. But whoever imposes punishment as deserved becomes respectable.

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#95. For the moon though one, dispels the darkness, which the stars, though numerous, do not.

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#96. 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.

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#97. Evil person causes harm even if treated will.

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#98. Water is the medicine for indigestion; it is invigorating when the food that is eaten is well digested; it is like nectar when drunk in the middle of a dinner; and it is like poison when taken at the end of a meal.

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#99. When one is consumed by the sorrows of life, three things give him relief: offspring, a wife, and the company of the Lord's devotees.

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#100. 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.

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