Shloka 4
Education and Conduct — Chanakya Niti
मूर्खशिष्योपदेशेन दुष्टस्त्रीभरणेन च ।
दुःखितैः सम्प्रयोगेण पण्डितोऽप्यवसीदति ॥
mūrkhaśiṣyopadeśena duṣṭastrībharaṇena ca |
duḥkhitaiḥ samprayogeṇa paṇḍito 'py avasīdati ||
Even a learned person may be brought low by teaching a foolish student, supporting a wicked wife, and associating with the distressed.
FAQs
In the Chanakya-nīti/Nītiśāstra milieu, concise maxims often link personal stability to social ties and obligations. The verse reflects a premodern South Asian genre that treats pedagogy, household maintenance, and companionship as factors affecting a scholar’s standing and resilience within courtly and civic life.
Here avasīdati is framed as a weakening or sinking of even a paṇḍita due to draining relationships and responsibilities. The decline is presented as social and practical—loss of capacity, composure, or status—rather than as a technical philosophical doctrine.
The construction uses three instrumental causes (…-ena / …-eṇa) to enumerate sources of harm, creating a rhythmic triad typical of gnomic Sanskrit. The verb avasīdati (“to sink, droop, be depressed”) is metaphorical, depicting erosion of a learned person’s condition through burdensome instruction, morally fraught domestic support (duṣṭa), and negative social proximity (samprayoga).