Shloka 2
Discernment and Wisdom — Chanakya Niti
दृष्टिपूतं न्यसेत्पादं वस्त्रपूतं पिबेज्जलम् ।
शास्त्रपूतं वदेद्वाक्यः मनःपूतं समाचरेत् ॥
dṛṣṭipūtaṃ nyaset pādaṃ vastrapūtaṃ pibej jalam |
śāstrapūtaṃ vaded vākyaṃ manaḥpūtaṃ samācaret ||
Place your step only after the eye has examined it; drink water only after it has been strained through cloth. Speak only after testing your words by śāstra; act only after the mind has purified the intent.
FAQs
In the broader Chanakya-nīti tradition, such verses are commonly situated within didactic collections used to summarize ideals of restraint and prudence. The imagery of filtering water and regulating speech reflects premodern South Asian concerns with bodily hygiene, social reputation, and the authority of learned norms (śāstra) within courtly and educated milieus.
The verse uses ‘purification’ as a layered metaphor for prior examination: sight ‘purifies’ a step through careful looking; cloth ‘purifies’ water through straining; śāstra ‘purifies’ speech through alignment with established teachings and conventions; and the mind ‘purifies’ action through internal deliberation. The term functions less as a ritual claim and more as a shorthand for disciplined scrutiny.
The verse is structured through parallel compounds ending in -pūta (dṛṣṭi-pūta, vastra-pūta, śāstra-pūta, manaḥ-pūta), producing a mnemonic catalogue of domains (movement, consumption, speech, action). The progression from external checks (seeing, cloth) to normative-intellectual regulation (śāstra) and finally internal cognition (manas) reflects a common Sanskrit didactic strategy of moving from concrete practice to moral-psychological discipline.