Chanakya Neethi - Chapter 11 - English

hastī sthūlatanuḥ sa chāṅkuśavaśaḥ kiṃ hastimātrō'ṅkuśō
dīpē prajvalitē praṇaśyati tamaḥ kiṃ dīpamātraṃ tamaḥ ।
vajrēṇāpi hatāḥ patanti girayaḥ kiṃ vajramātraṃ nagā-
stējō yasya virājatē sa balavānsthūlēṣu kaḥ pratyayaḥ ॥ 03 ॥

The elephant has a huge body but is controlled by the ankusha (goad): yet, is the goad as large as the elephant? A lighted candle banishes darkness: is the candle as vast as the darkness. A mountain is broken even by a thunderbolt: is the thunderbolt therefore as big as the mountain? No, he whose power prevails is really mighty; what is there in bulk?

kalau daśasahasrāṇi haristyajati mēdinīm ।
tadardhaṃ jāhnavītōyaṃ tadardhaṃ grāmadēvatāḥ ॥ 04 ॥

In the kaliyuga, after 10,000 years hari (viṣṇu) will leave this earth. Water from the Ganga river leaves after 5000 years. After 2000 years, the village deity will also leave.

gṛhāsaktasya nō vidyā nō dayā māṃsabhōjinaḥ ।
dravyalubdhasya nō satyaṃ straiṇasya na pavitratā ॥ 05 ॥

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 and a hunter.

na durjanaḥ sādhudaśāmupaiti
bahuprakārairapi śikṣyamāṇaḥ ।
āmūlasiktaḥ payasā ghṛtēna
na nimbavṛkṣō madhuratvamēti ॥ 06 ॥

The wicked man will not attain sanctity even if he is instructed in different ways, and the nim tree will not become sweet even if it is sprinkled from the top to the roots with milk and ghee.

antargatamalō duṣṭastīrthasnānaśatairapi ।
na śudhyati yathā bhāṇḍaṃ surāyā dāhitaṃ cha sat ॥ 07 ॥

Mental dirt cannot be washed away even by one-hundred baths in the sacred waters, just as a wine pot cannot be purified even by evaporating all the wine by fire.

na vētti yō yasya guṇaprakarṣaṃ
sa taṃ sadā nindati nātra chitram ।
yathā kirātī karikumbhalabdhāṃ
muktāṃ parityajya bibharti guñjām ॥ 08 ॥

It is not strange if a man reviles (Degrades) a thing of which he has no knowledge, just as a wild hunter's wife throws away the pearl that is found in the head of an elephant, and picks up a gunj(a type of seed which poor tribals wear as ornaments).

yē tu saṃvatsaraṃ pūrṇaṃ nityaṃ maunēna bhuñjatē ।
yugakōṭisahasraṃ taiḥ svargalōkē mahīyatē ॥ 09 ॥

He who for one year eats his meals silently (inwardly meditating upon the Lord's prasadam); attains to the heavenly planets for a thousand crore of years. ( Note: one crore equals ten million).

kāmakrōdhau tathā lōbhaṃ svāduśa‍ṛṅgārakautukē ।
atinidrātisēvē cha vidyārthī hyaṣṭa varjayēt ॥ 10 ॥

The student (brahmachāri) should completely renounce the following eight things -- his lust, anger, greed, desire for sweets, sense of decorating the body, excessive curiosity, excessive sleep, and excessive endeavour for bodily maintenance.

akṛṣṭaphalamūlēna vanavāsarataḥ sadā ।
kurutē'harahaḥ śrāddhamṛṣirvipraḥ sa uchyatē ॥ 11 ॥

The brāhmaṇa who eats roots from the earth without effort, who always lives in the forrest, one who always performs his duties with care śrāddhā is referred to as ṛṣi or sage.

ēkāhārēṇa santuṣṭaḥ ṣaṭkarmanirataḥ sadā ।
ṛtukālābhigāmī cha sa viprō dvija uchyatē ॥ 12 ॥

He alone is a true brāhmaṇa (dvija or "twice-born") who is satisfied with one meal a day, who has the six samskaras (or acts of purification such as garbhadhana, etc.) performed for him, and who cohabits with his wife only once in a month on an auspicious day after her menses.

laukikē karmaṇi rataḥ paśūnāṃ paripālakaḥ ।
vāṇijyakṛṣikarmā yaḥ sa viprō vaiśya uchyatē ॥ 13 ॥

The brāhmaṇa who is engrossed in worldly affairs, brings up cows and is engaged in trade is really called a vaiśya (merchant).

lākṣāditailanīlīnāṃ kausumbhamadhusarpiṣām ।
vikrētā madyamāṃsānāṃ sa vipraḥ śūdra uchyatē ॥ 14 ॥

The brāhmaṇa who deals in lac-die, articles, oil, indigo, silken cloth, honey, clarified butter, liquor, and flesh is called a śūdra (worker).

parakāryavihantā cha dāmbhikaḥ svārthasādhakaḥ ।
Chalī dvēṣī mṛduḥ krūrō viprō mārjāra uchyatē ॥ 15 ॥

The brāhmaṇa who thwarts the doings of others, who is hypocritical, selfish, and a deceitful hater, and while speaking mildly cherishes cruelty in his heart, is called a mārjāra (cat).

vāpīkūpataḍāgānāmārāmasuravēśmanām ।
uchChēdanē nirāśaṅkaḥ sa viprō mlēchCha uchyatē ॥ 16 ॥

The brāhmaṇa who destroys a pond, a well, a tank, a garden and a temple is called a mlēchCha (foreigner, who doesn't understand the workings of society).

dēvadravyaṃ gurudravyaṃ paradārābhimarśanam ।
nirvāhaḥ sarvabhūtēṣu vipraśchāṇḍāla uchyatē ॥ 17 ॥

The brāhmaṇa who steals the property of the Deities and the spiritual preceptor, who cohabits with another's wife, and who maintains himself by eating anything and everything s called a chāṇḍāla (an outcast).

dēyaṃ bhōjyadhanaṃ dhanaṃ sukṛtibhirnō sañchayastasya vai
śrīkarṇasya balēścha vikramapatēradyāpi kīrtiḥ sthitā ।
asmākaṃ madhudānabhōgarahitaṃ nāthaṃ chirātsañchitaṃ
nirvāṇāditi naijapādayugalaṃ dharṣantyahō makṣikāḥ ॥ 18 ॥

The meritorious should give away in charity all that they have in excess of their needs. By charity only Karna, Bali and King Vikramaditya survive even today. Just see the plight of the honeybees beating their legs in despair upon the earth. They are saying to themselves, "Alas! We neither enjoyed our stored-up honey nor gave it in charity, and now someone has taken it from us in an instant."

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