Chanakya Niti (Great Preaching from Great Indian Teacher: Chanakya)
Strategies for Success
In Sanskrit, Neeti means-strategies, policies, ideas, principles, plans, methods, and tactics. The moment we hear the two words ‘Chanakya Neeti’, we are transported to another world, the world of Chanakya, where there was discipline, order, peace and prosperity for the masses.
# Truth is my mother and knowledge is my father, Virtue is my brother, compassion is my friend. Peace is my wife, forgiveness is my son. These six I keep as my kinsmen.
Your family plays a great part in your growth and character. An exemplary family gives birth to great men and women and wayward family contributes nothing but grief to society. Chanakya outlines the six values one must have by linking them to close family members.
# What worry is there in my life If Hari is the world’s sustainer. Were He not so, how for the sustenance could the milk flow from the breast of the mother? Thinking so again and again, O Lord of the Yadus and Lord of Lakshmi, serving only your lotus feet ever and always time passes for me.
In this verse, you get to see Chanakya’s bhakti. Chanakya is known for his brilliance political ideas and shrewd stratagems. But here we find the same Chanakya professing his love for Lord Vishnu who is the husband of Goddess Lakshmi. Where there is faith, there is no worry. So, Chanakya asserts that when Lord Vishnu is the sustainer and provider of the whole universe, there is no need for him to worry.
# The Vipra (a wise man) is like a tree, whose roots are prayers. The Vedas are his branches, his deeds are the leaves. Therefore, diligently keep the roots secure. Cutting of the roots, neither the branches not the leaves endure.
In this Neeti, Chanakya says that one should carry on in life with a prayerful disposition. Here he gives the example of a wise man and compares him to a tree. Gandhiji once said, a Man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes. It is your mindset and quality of thoughts that determine your quality of life.
# At the time of a deluge, Oceans are known to exceed their boundaries and seek to change. But a gentleman never changes, even during a catastrophe.
A person exhibits his real character when faced with a misfortune. Most people wear a mask of niceness and moral uprightness in their everyday life to be accepted and liked by society, but this mask comes off when real tragedy hits. Only those who are authentic don’t change under stress.
# Chanakya Niti on Stupidity: A stupid person cannot be benefited by direction. Despite the association with Malay Mountain, a bamboo does not turn into sandalwood.
Chanakya says, sometimes inherent nature cannot be altered. Good guidance is of no use to a stupid and arrogant person because he does not know how to use it. A person who does not use his own intellect and has no power of reasoning does not understand the value of good advice. Counselling to him is like breaking you head to fashion a stone. In spite of being in good company of Sandalwood, the bamboo remains hollow and without fragrance. Similarly, a stupid person is not benefited by company of wise person.
# It is enough to live for a moment, if that moment is spent doing good deeds. It is useless living for ages and bringing only distress to this world and the other.
Chanakya says, life is uncertain, so spend every moment by doing good deeds and do not bring distress to the other.
# No one can defeat a powerful mind
# He who befriends an immoral, evil-minded, crooked and vicious man meets his ruin very quickly.
Chanakya says, be careful of bad company, for it can destroy you. An unethical person cannot be trusted at all. His malicious thoughts can affect both of you. Even scientific research suggests your behaviors is largely dependent on the five people you closely interact on a daily basis. So be careful who you associate with.
# 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 getting rich see no sin in their actions.
Chanakya says, we are so engrossed in trying to achieve our goals that we fail to see what is right or what is wrong. In throes of passion and lust, we stop thinking clearly. Do not follow your passions blindly. Chanakya also says that person who is arrogant cannot discriminate between right and wrong.
#May be no advised Brahma, the creator to infuse fragrance in gold, to put fruits in sugarcae, to give flowers to the sandalwood tree, to bestow wealth on scholar and to grant long life to the king.
Chanakya says certain things in the universe are how they are. They are part of nature’s lawy. So let us accept them and face life’s realities.
# If you wish to gain control of the world, then keep the following fifteen, which are prone to wander, from getting the upper hand over you, the fiven sense objects, the five sense organs and organs of activity.
Chanakya says if you wish to conquer the world, then you need to first win over yourself. Acquiring self control is possible only if you gain control over your senses. Great concentration is required in the chosen field. If you carefully study the lives of people who are champions on the world platform, you will notice that they have achieved their greatness by gaining mastery over one particular field.
# Win over the greedy with money, the haughty with showing courtesy, a fool by tickling his fancy and a pundit with truth.
Chanakya says different ailments require different type of medicine. A good doctor knows that. Similarly different types of people need to be handled differently.
# Parents are the enemies of a child who is not given education. He stands like a crane amidst swans in any social gathering.
# A person who is blessed with beauty, riches and a noble family background is still worthless without education, like the Kimshuka flower without fragrance.
# A wise man should restrain his senses like a crane and accomplish his goals after due inspection of the place, time and ability.
# Men who are successful in this world are those who are generous to one’s own people, kind to attendants, loving towards the good, shrewd with the wicked, frank with scholars, courageous with enemies and humble with the elderly.
# He who considers another’s wife as his mother, another’s money as a lump of clay, pains and pleasure of all beings as his own is a true pundit.
# The previous life’s practices of charity, learning and austerity continue to be cultivated in this life through the link of this present life with the previous ones.
Chanakya says according to the law of Karma, all living beings have had many previous births and there will be many more. You keep carrying forward the consequences of your actions from one birth to the other. Chanakya advises to be careful about your every activity whether good or bad because you will have the fruits of the same in the next life.
# Time matures all beings. Time annihilates people. Time stays awake when everybody is asleep. Time is indeed unbeatable.
Chanakya says experience and maturity comes with time. Time can even dethrone kings and conquerors. Time is the only thing a man cannot conquer or overcome. So, use your time wisely and respectfully. Know that with time things change. It is probably for the best that nothing lasts forever.
# It is enough to live for a moment if the moment is spent doing good deeds. It is useless living ages and bringing only distress to this world and the other.
Chanakya says life is unpredictable. You could be alive one moment and dead the other. It is important to live a meaningful and a productive life till your last breath. Do good deeds. So, live every moment as it is the last and do be of help to others as much as possible.
# Chanakya Niti on Peace: The nectar of contentment fills joy in peaceful people. It cannot be had by the covetous, relentlessly running hither and thither.
Chanakya say contentment is the nectar with fills the heart with joy. The people who are satisfied with what they have, are always happy and peaceful. The greedy people will never experience joy in its truest sense. He will run after something and will run after it till; he gets it.
# Chanakya Niti on Love: One who is attached stands in fear. Lovesickness is indeed a pot of sadness. For attachment is the course of suffering. One gains happiness by being detached.
Chanakya says we get attached to many things in life, be it a person or objects. That is the biggest problem. If we are free from attachments, we can be truly happy.
# No austerity measures up to calmness. No joy is better than contentment. No disease is worse than greed and no religion cuts above compassion.
Chanakya talks about calmness, contentment, greed and compassion and how to be a good human being.
# The man’s speech should befit the occasion, his good deeds should match his capacity, his wrath should be in proportion to his power. One who knows these is pundit indeed.
Chanakya says understanding one’s own positive and negative attributes will help a person succeed in life. Here he talks about some of the attributes to explain their importance in intelligence man’s life.
# One should not be too upright. Go and see for yourself the forest, where the straight trees are cut down whole, the curved ones are left standing.
Chanakya says, do not be too honest or ethical. Mostly good souls are taken for granted. Chanakya advises to be more practical in life.
# One and the same object can be perceived in three different ways; A woman is a mere body to a yogi, an object of lust to the lustful and is a piece of flesh to dogs
Chanakya says the eyes of the beholder is what matters. Chanakya chooses the example of a woman to explain this concept.
# Chanakya Niti on knowledge: A scholar is honored everywhere, A scholar is respected by the people, Knowledge brings all gains. Knowledge is indeed honored everywhere.
Chanakya shows his admiration for scholars and the knowledge they possess. The Scholars are held in high regard in the world, both by the kings and the common man.
# Truth supports the earth, truth kindles the sun, truth blows the wind, truth sustains everyone.
Chanakya says all things rest upon truth. Only when there is truth, there is trust. and without trust, the universe will crumble like an eggshell trodden by an elephant.
# One who abandons the sure thing and runs after the transient, losses the permanent and as well, by itself, vanishes the impermanent.
Chanakya says you need to develop the ability to think critically. Many people spent their entire life running behind transient goals. The fail to understand that things come and go. By running behind transient, you stand to lose the permanent. You do not value what is yours already. Later there is no point regretting the time lost which you could have spent with those you love.
# Chanakya Niti on Good conduct: Practice sustains learning, goo conduct sustains family ties, an Arya is known by his goodness and anger is seen in the eyes.
Chanakya says how one can improve oneself with the help of knowledge and good behaviour, learning and family ties. Practice is the foundation of learning.
# If the one who has wits is possessed by power, where else can the dim-witted gain strength? Remember the proud lion in the forest, A Jackel drew him to this death.
Chanakya says the real power is ability to think. Those who are intelligent are the real powerful. Chanakya explains his observation with example of a lion and Jackel. So, in the case of ordinary people, if you are not smart, no one will respect you, no matter what post you hold in the organization.
# For a Dwija, God is in the fire. For a Sage, God is in his hearth. God isin the idol for the dim-witted but everywhere for the just.
What you see and how you perceive what you see define your personality. Different people could see the same thing and still perceive it differently. For example, a child looks at a mobile phone as a toy but for his father the same phone represents a way to connect with the world.
# In whose heart the love for all kindles and abides, his troubles vanish, and success ensues in all his strides
Chanakya says, it is the love for all, which ensures success in everything. A heart that is compassionate and caring will never be unsuccessful. Success will follow such a person.
# Chanakya Niti on Desires: Desires of the Mind! Who has got all cushy things? Everything depends on destiny. Therefore, count your blessings!
Chanakya says, the mind is very tricky; just when you have fulfilled one desire, it will come up with another. Even if you have everything you want and yet a new desire will always crop up. So, all comfortable things you already possess cannot guarantee, you true happiness.
# Lifespan, occupation, wealth, education and how one’s death will occur. These five are determined while a person is in the womb of his mother.
Chanakya believed, even before a person is born his fate has been decided by the celestial powers. He asserts that a person’s life is largely pre-decided.
# Just as obtaining clear water from the underground using a pickaxe. a diligent student obtains knowledge from this teacher.
Chanakya says acquiring knowledge is not easy. One needs to put in hard work in pursuit of knowledge.
# The lowbrow becomes a king. The king is made miserly. The rich become poor, and the poor are made rich by destiny.
Chanakya say who can stop fate and time? When the right time arrives, one’s destiny shifts. Chanakya was the person who believed in planning and handwork. However, he knew that there are various things that are beyond human efforts and understanding
# For a Dwija, God is in the fire. For a Sage, God is in his hearth. God isin the idol for the dim-witted but everywhere for the just.
What you see and how you perceive what you see define your personality. Different people could see the same thing and still perceive it differently. For example, a child looks at a mobile phone as a toy but for his father the same phone represents a way to connect with the world.
# Charity puts an end to poverty. Righteous conduct to misery. Discretion to ignorance and scrutiny to fear
Chanakya suggest certain qualities for our life. We can tackle one negative with a positive. To be optimistic in life, one must develop the quality of positive thinking. An upbeat person will look at the life differently as compared to a skeptical person
# A rough will never attain goodness. Even if he is trained in many ways and the need tree will not become sweet even if soaked in milk and ghee.
Chanakya says to change inherent nature of something is not possible, even if you try to reform them. A wicked man cannot become good even if someone tries to train him. A basic character cannot be changed. The neem tree has bitter leaves and bark, and it will taste bitter even if soaked with milk.
