Shloka 10
Discernment and Wisdom — Chanakya Niti
दुर्जनं सज्जनं कर्तुमुपायो नहि भूतले ।
अपानं शातधा धौतं न श्रेष्ठमिन्द्रियं भवेत् ॥
durjanaṃ sajjanaṃ kartum upāyo nahi bhūtale |
apānaṃ śatadhā dhautaṃ na śreṣṭham indriyaṃ bhavet ||
The verse describes a traditional view that, in the world, there is no effective means to transform a wicked person into a virtuous one; it illustrates this through a metaphor that even if a base vessel is washed a hundred times, it does not become a superior object.
FAQs
Within the Cāṇakya-nīti tradition, such verses function as compact observations about character assessment relevant to governance, counsel, and social interaction in premodern Indic political culture. The emphasis reflects a broader nīti-śāstra tendency to categorize persons by stable dispositions and to warn rulers and advisers about the perceived risks of relying on moral reformation.
The verse frames moral transformation of the “durjana” into a “sajjana” as effectively unattainable, presenting character as resistant to change. This is expressed as a generalizing claim typical of aphoristic literature, rather than as a case-based ethical argument.
The contrast durjana/sajjana uses established Sanskrit moral typologies. The metaphor of washing a low-status vessel (apāna) “a hundred times” (śatadhā) employs hyperbole to underscore permanence of intrinsic quality; the term indriya here is best read in a non-technical sense as an “implement/object,” aligning with the utensil imagery rather than the philosophical sense of “sense-faculty.”