Sushmajee
Spiritual Topics | Subhaashit
Subhaashit | |
Chaanakya-Quotes-1 |
Chaanakya-Quotes-1 The good people who earn their livelihood
with righteous means, who are attached only to their wives, who have control over their
senses and who love their guests there is salvation in their house itself. The animals see (recognition
of their in in the herd) through the help of their sense of smell, the
learned men see (percept) through earning scriptures like Ved, the rulers
see (get ideas and information about all that is around) through the good
offices of spies and agents and other ordinary people use their biological
eyes to see. There can be eight
situations in life akin to death for a man of character and self respect -
(1) facing disgrace in public, (2) facing a shameful scandal, (3) landing
up in captivity means imprisonment, (4) being subjected to constant fear
verging on psychological trauma, (5) misery and suffering of nagging and
prolonged illness, (6) inconsolable grief, (7) loss of one's own memory,
and (8) the degeneration of the mortal body. In the mater of giving or
receiving, determining what is to be done, ad in embarking proper action,
things are to carried out without any delay. In a delayed action, if at
all it yields any fruits such good results will be eaten away by time,
meaning delay nullifies the results of good action. Promptness is he
watchword. A man with intelligence
should duly consider even made by a small boy, if such views are
appropriate. The powerful Sun lights up the whole world, but here is night
and also there are dark shadows even during the day and a small wick of a
lamp can light up and can reveal such things in such conditions while the
mighty Sun maybe helpless in doing that. The universal acceptance of
wisdom without getting concerned overly for the source thereof is the
hallmark of a prudent person. Exalted self-interest is the watchword in administration. He says - "One must even tolerate carrying known enemy on his shoulders so long as the time is not favorable and one is not strong enough to attack him. But this should be the temporarily phase of one's activities. One should not hesitate to annihilate the enemy and to blow him into pieces lie an earthen pot smashed on a rock at the earliest occasion provided by time and opportunity. According to local
folklores, it is said, that one day Chaanakya was going on a road that a
bunch of wild grass obstructed his feet and he stumbled. His immediate
reaction was to uproot its growth in its entirety. he did not stop at it,
he burnt it with fire, mixed all the ashes in water and drank it to the
last drop. Then only he rested. Chandragupt was watching his actions, and
decided then an there to make him his Guru. the rest is history. Moorkheshu Na
Vivaado kartavyah - For the welfare of the Country, one may have to sacrifice the interests of his native village. When it comes to the interests of his native village, one has to give it priority over his own family. If the family's welfare is compromised because of a son, such son should be abandoned in the interest of the family. And if one's good name and uplift of the soul are at stake, one has to sacrifice all he has to redeem his name and soul. Uplift of the soul and one's good name must be sacrificed for his family. While the family should be sacrificed for the safety of the village, the village should be sacrificed for the sake of the city, and a city should be sacrificed for the sake of the kingdom. [The same idea comes in Vidur Neeti also - Dhritaraashtra failed to do this in Duryodhan's case and the result was that the entire family, rather entire Kshatriya clan was annihilated in the battle of Kurukshetra. Thus if that wayward son would have annihilated before, the whole clan could have been saved.] The elders are not to be criticized. Control over the senses is the real penance. When a person lands himself
in difficult situation, he simply curses the fate. He never cares to take
stock of the wrong and indiscreet series of actions on his own part which
have landed him in such dire straits. [Although Chaanakya in this aphorism
says that fate is not everything, your own actions also count, but at the
same time in his Sootra 122, he says that "Even for the most learned,
attempts may end up in failure due to quirks of fate combined with human
errors. No one has the control over the will of God, but we can reasonable
control over our actions.] Kadaapi Purusham
Naav Manyet Sthaanevshwev
Niyojyaani Bhrityaashchaabharanaani cha, Na hi Choodaamanih Praagyo
Paadaatau Pratibadhyate It is possible that eve an
arrow shot by the best archer can miss its target and may fail to kill,
but the spark of intelligence emitted by the highly learned and efficient
people, if they are oriented against a nation and a King, would without
fail cause the destruction of the whole kingdom with its leader. [He
without wielding any weapons dethroned the Nand and established the Marya
dynasty.]
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Created by Sushma Gupta on 5/9/09
Contact: sushmajee@yahoo.com
Updated on
02/10/13