Shloka 1
Discernment and Wisdom — Chanakya Niti
धनहीनो न हीनश्च धनिकः स सुनिश्चयः ।
विद्यारत्नेन हीनो यः स हीनः सर्ववस्तुषु ॥
dhanahīno na hīnaś ca dhanikaḥ sa suniścayaḥ |
vidyāratnena hīno yaḥ sa hīnaḥ sarvavastuṣu ||
Lack of wealth does not make a person inferior, nor does wealth alone make one certainly superior. He who lacks the “jewel of learning” is deficient in all things.
FAQs
Within nītiśāstra-style compilations attributed to Cāṇakya, such verses commonly reflect elite pedagogical norms in which social evaluation is discussed through categories like wealth (dhana) and learning (vidyā). The framing aligns with broader classical Indian discourse that treats education and cultivated knowledge as durable forms of capital in courtly and administrative environments, while also acknowledging that material wealth alone does not fully determine standing.
The verse differentiates between material lack and intellectual lack: it describes poverty as not inherently constituting ‘deficiency,’ while characterizing the absence of vidyā—metaphorically termed a ‘jewel’—as a comprehensive deficiency affecting one’s capacity across domains (sarvavastuṣu).
The compound 'vidyā-ratna' employs a common Sanskrit metaphor that treats learning as a precious, portable treasure. The repeated use of 'hīna' (lacking/deficient) creates a contrastive structure: the first line weakens a simplistic equation of wealth with worth, while the second line intensifies the valuation of learning by extending its absence to 'all matters' (sarvavastuṣu).