Chanakya Quotations

A man is great by deeds, not by birth.

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

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.

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

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.

The biggest guru-mantra is: never share your secrets with anybody. It will destroy you.

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.

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

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

A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first.

God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple.

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.

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.

There is no austerity equal to a balanced mind, and there is no happiness equal to contentment; there is no disease like covetousness, and no virtue like mercy.

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.

He who is overly attached to his family members experiences fear and sorrow, for the root of all grief is attachment. Thus one should discard attachment to be happy.

Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman.

Purity of speech, of the mind, of the senses, and of a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires to rise to the divine platform.

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.

The happiness and peace attained by those satisfied by the nectar of spiritual tranquillity is not attained by greedy persons restlessly moving here and there.

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

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.

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?

He who is engrossed in family life will never acquire knowledge; there can be no mercy in the eater of flesh; the greedy man will not be truthful; and purity will not be found in a woman a hunter.

He who is not shy in the acquisition of wealth, grain and knowledge, and in taking his meals, will be happy

He who desires sense gratification must give up all thoughts of acquiring knowledge; and he who seeks knowledge must not hope for sense gratification.

He whose hands are clean does not like to hold an office; he who desires nothing cares not for bodily decorations; he who is only partially educated cannot speak agreeably; and he who speaks out plainly cannot be a deceiver.

There is no disease (so destructive) as lust; no enemy like infatuation; no fire like wrath; and no happiness like spiritual knowledge.

Those who are destitute of learning, penance, knowledge, good disposition, virtue and benevolence are brutes wandering the earth in the form of men. They are burdensome to the earth.

To have ability for eating when dishes are ready at hand, to be robust and virile in the company of one's religiously wedded wife, and to have a mind for making charity when one is prosperous are the fruits of no ordinary austerities.

Therefore kings gather round themselves men of good families, for they never forsake them either at the beginning, the middle or the end.

Don't judge the future of a person based on his present conditions, becausetime has the power to change black coal to shiny diamond.

Prosperity last long for one who acts after proper consideration.

Avoid him who talks sweetly before you but tries to ruin you behind your back, for he is like a pitcher of poison with milk on top.

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

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.

Rain which falls upon the sea is useless; so is food for one who is satiated; in vain is a gift for one who is wealthy; and a burning lamp during the daytime is useless.

Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, comes of Her own accord where fools are not respected, grain is well stored up, and the husband and wife do not quarrel.

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?

Low class men desire wealth;middle class men both wealth and respect; but the noble, honour only; hence honour is the noble man's true wealth.

We should always speak what would please the man of whom we expect a favour,like the hunter who sings sweetly when he desires to shoot a deer.

If a king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Women have hunger two-fold, shyness four-fold, daring six-fold, and lust eight-fold as compared to men.

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.

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

Education beats the beauty and the youth.

Those base men who speak of the secret faults of others destroy themselves like serpents that stray onto anthills.

Love is indicated by deeds (and not by words)

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.

There is no disease so destructive as lust.

He who has wealth has friends.

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.

The forest fire burns even tree like sandalwood.

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

Enemies strike at weak points.

It is better to live under a tree in a jungle inhabited by tigers and elephants, to maintain oneself in such a place with ripe fruits and spring water, to lie down on grass and to wear the ragged barks of trees than to live amongst one's relations when reduced to poverty.

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?.

One destitute of wealth is not destitute, he is indeed rich, but the man devoid of learning is destitute in every way.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This world is a bitter tree, it has only two sweet nectar like fruits - one is soft voice and the other is company of gentlemen.

Union in privacy (with one's wife); boldness; storing away useful items; watchfulness; and not easily trusting others; these five things are to be learned from a crow.

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

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

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

Religion is preserved by wealth; knowledge by diligent practice; a king by conciliatory words; and a home by a dutiful housewife.

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

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.

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.

A wicked wife, a false friend, a saucy servant and living in a house with a serpent in it are nothing but death.

This sutura gives example about the purpose of relationship. A son of enemy who wants to uproot his own father, should be treated as friend and shold be protected. This may be called opportunism but is and should be necessary part of polity and statesmanship. Moreover, if a father is not aan upright man to have friendship with his sone can be a meritorious peson. So it is better to protecdt him.

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.

The Goddess of wealth is unsteady, and so is the life breath. The duration of life is uncertain, and the place of habitation is uncertain; but in all this inconsistent world religious merit alone is immovable.

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.

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.

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

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