Sutra 22

Devanagari script

जीवन्मरणमेतदिति कौटिल्यः ॥ कZ_०१.१७.२२ ॥

Transliteration

jīvanmaraṇam etad iti kauṭilyaḥ

Translation

Kauṭilya says: “This is death while living.”

Word by Word

• जीवत्-मरणम्: ‘living death’; death while still alive (a state like death though living)
• Type: Noun
• Root: √मृ (मरणे)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; समासः—जीवत् (वर्तमानकृदन्त/विशेषण, ‘जीवन्’) + मरण (भाववाचक/क्रियावाचक संज्ञा)

• एतत्: this
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; अन्वयः—पूर्वपदस्य (जीवत्-मरणम्) निर्देशः

• इति: thus; ‘so’ (marking the quoted statement)
• Type: Particle
• Root: इति
• Form: अव्यय; वाक्य/उद्धरण-समाप्तिसूचक (quotative marker)

• कौटिल्यः: Kauṭilya (the author/teacher)
• Type: Noun (Proper)
• Root: कौटिल्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; कर्तृ/वक्तृ-निर्देशः (authorial attribution)

Entities Mentioned

• Kauṭilya

More Details

FAQs

What is Kauṭilya rejecting with ‘living death’?

He rejects the idea that merely pacifying princes through pleasure is adequate; it produces an unfit heir and undermines future governance capacity.