Chanakya

Do not put your trust in rivers, men who carry weapons, beasts with claws or horns, women and members of a royal family.

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

Who is there who having become rich has not become proud? What licentious man has put an end to his calamities? What man in this world has not been overcome by a woman? Who is always loved by the king?

There are many ways of binding by which one can be dominated and controlled in this world but the bond of affection is the strongest. For example take the case of the humble bee which although expert at piercing hardened wood becomes caught in the embrace of its beloved flowers (as the petals close at dusk).

For want of discernment the most precious jewels lie in the dust at the feet of men while bits of glass are worn on their heads. But we should not imagine that the gems have sunk in value and the bits of glass have risen in importance. When a person of critical judgement shall appear each will be given its right position.

Learning is a friend on the journey, a wife in the house, medicine in sickness, and religious merit is the only friend after death.

Foolishness is indeed painful and verily so is youth but more painful by far than either is being obliged in another person's house.

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.

A man is great by deeds not by birth.

What good can the scriptures do to a man who has no sense of his own? Of what use is as mirror to a blind man?

What is too heavy for the strong and what place is too distant for those who put forth effort?

In this world whose family is there without blemish? Who is free from sickness and grief? Who is forever happy?

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

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 is it that escapes the observation of poets? What is that act women are incapable of doing? What will drunken people not prate? What will not a crow eat?

A man who encounters the following three is unfortunate, the death of his wife in his old age the entrusting of money into the hands of relatives and depending upon others for food.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

A father who is a chronic debtor, an adulterous mothe,r a beautiful wife, and an unlearned son are enemies (in one's own home).

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.

One single object (a woman) appears in three different ways: to the man who practices austerity it appears as a corpse to the sensual it appears as a woman and to the dogs as a lump of flesh.

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.

There are two ways to get rid of thorns and wicked persons, using footwear in the first case and in the second shaming them so that they cannot raise their faces again thus keeping them at a distance.

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.

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.

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

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

They alone are sons who are devoted to their father. He is a father who supports his sons. He is a friend in whom we can confide and she only is a wife in whose company the husband feels contented and peaceful.

A blade of grass is light cotton, is lighter the beggar, is infinitely lighter still. Why then does not the wind carry him away? Because it fears that he may ask alms of him.

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.

Excessive attachment to sense pleasures leads to bondage and detachment from sense pleasures leads to liberation, therefore it is the mind alone that is responsible for bondage or liberation.

Scriptural lessons not put into practice are poison, a meal is poison to him who suffers from indigestion, a social gathering is poison to a poverty stricken person, and a young wife is poison to an aged man.

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

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

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

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.

Consider again and again the following: the right time the right friends the right place the right means of income the right ways of spending and from whom you derive your power.

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.

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.

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.

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

Of a rascal and a serpent the serpent is the better of the two for he strikes only at the time he is destined to kill while the former at every step.

A thing may be dreaded as long as it has not overtaken you but once it has come upon you try to get rid of it without hesitation.

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.

The duration of life is uncertain and the place of habitation is uncertain, but in all this inconsistent world religious merit alone is immovable.

We should not grieve when we must inevitably part company from our dear ones.

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

Fate makes a beggar a king and a king a beggar. He makes a rich man poor and a poor man rich.

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.

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

There is no water like rainwater, no strength like one's own, no light like that of the eyes, and no wealth more dear than food grain.

He who shall practice these twenty virtues shall become invincible in all his undertakings.

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

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.

The serpent may without being poisonous raise high its hood but the show of terror is enough to frighten people -- whether he be venomous or not.

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.

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

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

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?

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

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

As is the desire of Providence so functions one's intellect, one's activities are also controlled by Providence, and by the will of Providence one is surrounded by helpers.

Friendship between equals flourishes service under a king is respectable it is good to be business-minded in public dealings and a handsome lady is safe in her own home.

Therefore with an eye to the public good I shall speak that which when understood will lead to an understanding of things in their proper perspective.

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

The prostitute has to forsake a man who has no money the subject a king that cannot defend him the birds a tree that bears no fruit and the guests a house after they have finished their meals.

O jackal leave aside the body of that man at once whose hands have never given in charity whose ears have not heard the voice of learning whose eyes have not beheld a pure devotee of the Lord whose feet have never traversed to holy places whose belly is filled with things obtained by crooked practices and whose head is held high in vanity. Do not eat it O jackal otherwise you will become polluted.

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.

A wise man should not divulge the formula of a medicine which he has well prepared, an act of charity which he has performed, domestic conflicts, private affairs with his wife, poorly prepared food he may have been offered, or slang he may have heard.

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. (""Spare the rod and spoil the child."")

We should secure and keep the following: the blessings of meritorious deeds wealth grain the words of the spiritual master and rare medicines. Otherwise life becomes impossible.

If the king is virtuous then the subjects are also virtuous. If the king is sinful then the subjects also become sinful. If he is mediocre then the subjects are mediocre. The subjects follow the example of the king. In short as is the king so are the subjects.

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.

Fish tortoises and birds bring up their young by means of sight attention and touch, so do saintly men afford protection to their associates by the same means.

To wake at the proper time, to take a bold stand and fight, to make a fair division (of property) among relations, and to earn one's own bread by personal exertion are the four excellent things to be learned from a cock.

Who is there who has not been overcome by the ravages of time? What beggar has attained glory? Who has become happy by contracting the vices of the wicked?

Save your wealth against future calamity.

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.

The poor wish for wealth, animals for the faculty of speech, men wish for heaven, and godly persons for liberation.

Those men who are happy in this world who are generous towards their relatives kind to strangers indifferent to the wicked loving to the good shrewd in their dealings with the base frank with the learned courageous with enemies humble with elders and stern with the wife.

Wealth a friend a wife and a kingdom may be regained, but this body when lost may never be acquired again.

How can people be made happy in a petty kingdom? What peace can we expect from a rascal friend? What happiness can we have at home in the company of a bad wife? How can renown be gained by instructing an unworthy disciple?

Among men the barber is cunning, among birds the crow, among beasts the jackal, and among women the malin (flower girl).

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.

He should be considered to be living who is virtuous and pious but the life of a man who is destitute of religion and virtues is void of any blessing.

No messenger can travel about in the sky and no tidings come from there. The voice of its inhabitants as never heard nor can any contact be established with them.

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

It is ruinous to be familiar with the king fire the religious preceptor and a woman. To be altogether indifferent of them is to be deprived of the opportunity to benefit ourselves hence our association with them must be from a safe distance.

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.

Residing in a small village devoid of proper living facilities serving a person born of a low family unwholesome food a frowning wife a foolish son and a widowed daughter burn the body without fire.

By going to the den of a lion pearls from the head of an elephant may be obtained, but by visiting the hole of a jackal nothing but the tail of a calf or a bit of the hide of an ass may found.

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

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