प्रणम्य शिरसा विष्णुः त्रैलोक्याधिपति: प्रभुम् |
नानाशस्त्रोद्ध्रत वक्ष्ये रज्नितिस्मुक्च्य्मू ||
I bow my head to the Master of the Universe, the Almighty and Omnipresent, Lord Vishnu.
After paying my obeisance, I will venture to present the political knowledge collected from many scriptures. (I)
It has been a tradition of our land that sages and scholars invoked the name of God before beginning any task for the success of the effort. Guru Chanakya prayed to Lord Vishnu before scripting the main matter.
Chanakya has described his work as a fine collection of political wisdom commonly known as “Chanakya Neeti”.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
अथीत्येद यथाशास्त्र नरो जानाति स्यतं: |
धर्मोप्देशाविख्यात: कार्याऽकार्य शुभाऽशुभम् ||
After studying this book with due attention, the persons of proper breeding, will learn about what is good and what is bad, according to the wisdom of the great scriptures. (2)
Before embarking on a task one should have the knowledge about its desirability and the consequences, what would be right and wrong? And only those people with the highest upbringing have the capacity to understand the messages contained in the revered scriptures.
One should have proper understanding of lawfulness and unlawfulness. For example, taking a life is normally considered a criminal act of murder and a sin, yet under certain circumstances it is not considered a sin as in self-defence or on the battlefield.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
तदः संप्रवक्ष्यामि लोकानाः हितकाम्यया |
येन विज्ञानमात्रेण सर्वज्ञत्व प्रपधते ||
For the benefit of the common man, I will state the political knowledge which makes one wise in all aspects. (3)
Chanakya claims the book will make any careful reader willing to learn, understand the difference between right and wrong, good or bad, proper and improper, so he is able to make the right decisions in his life without any confusions.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
मूर्ख्शियोपदेषेन, मूर्खशिष्योपदेशेन दुष्तिस्त्रिभ्ररणेन च |
दुःखितै: संप्रयोगेण पण्डितोऽप्यवसीदति ||
A wise man will come to grief if he:
– give advice to a foolish pupil
– looks after a woman of loose character, and
– keeps the company of a sad person who has lost everything.
According to Chanakya, offer advice to a foolish student brings more harm than any good. He also thinks sheltering a bad woman will create problems and bring infamy to the person taking care of her.
A person who is always sad either because of his bad luck or ill health will continuously berate his ill-luck, making everyone around him depressed and gloomy just like himself. This affects not only the mood of the person taking care of him but also affects their health, personal and professional life, resulting in a terrible loss of time which is a commodity to a wise and creative person. Such a person gets cheated out of his time, money or ends up in a situation that creates more problems for him. (4)
