Shloka 6
Discernment and Wisdom — Chanakya Niti
लुब्धानां याचकः शत्रुर्मूर्खानां बोधको रिपुः ।
जारस्त्रीणां पतिः शत्रुश्चौराणां चन्द्रमा रिपुः ॥
lubdhānāṃ yācakaḥ śatrur mūrkhānāṃ bodhako ripuḥ |
jārastrīṇāṃ patiḥ śatruś caurāṇāṃ candramā ripuḥ ||
The verse describes a traditional set of antagonisms: for the greedy, a petitioner is treated as an enemy; for the foolish, an instructor is regarded as a foe; for women engaged in adultery, the husband is characterized as an adversary; and for thieves, the moon is portrayed as an enemy.
FAQs
Within the Chanakya Niti tradition, such verses function as aphoristic social typologies, mapping perceived behavioral patterns (e.g., greed, ignorance, criminality) to predictable social frictions. The imagery reflects a milieu where household authority, moral reputation, and public order were prominent concerns, and where didactic literature often condensed social observation into memorable contrasts.
Hostility is presented relationally rather than militarily: an individual becomes a 'śatru/ripu' insofar as they obstruct a desire or expose wrongdoing. The petitioner threatens the greedy by requesting resources; the instructor threatens the foolish by challenging ignorance; the husband threatens adulterous relations by representing social and domestic constraint; and the moon threatens thieves by increasing visibility at night.
The verse uses paired genitives (e.g., lubdhānām, mūrkhānām, caurāṇām) to create a patterned catalogue of antagonists. The final image—'the moon as the thieves’ enemy'—is a period-typical metaphor grounded in practical conditions (moonlight as surveillance), while the alternation of near-synonyms (śatru, ripu) reinforces the rhetorical cadence without requiring a strict semantic distinction.