Shloka 10
Right Conduct — Chanakya Niti
कामक्रोधौ तथा लोभं स्वादुशृङ्गारकौतुके ।
अतिनिद्रातिसेवे च विद्यार्थी ह्यष्ट वर्जयेत् ॥
kāmakrodhau tathā lobhaṃ svāduśṛṅgārakautuke |
atinidrātiseve ca vidyārthī hy-aṣṭa varjayet ||
A student should avoid eight things: desire, anger, greed, indulgence in tasty foods, erotic preoccupation, frivolous amusements or idle curiosity, excessive sleep, and excessive service or attachment.
FAQs
In the Chanakya-nīti/Nīti-śāstra tradition, verses frequently frame learning as requiring restraint from behaviors seen as dissipating attention and time. Such catalogues reflect broader ancient South Asian educational ideals (brahmacarya-oriented student life in some traditions), where self-regulation is presented as a prerequisite for study, memorization, and participation in scholarly lineages.
The verse groups distractions into affective impulses (kāma, krodha, lobha), sensory indulgences (svādu—pleasant tastes), aesthetic/erotic preoccupation (śṛṅgāra), recreational or novelty-seeking tendencies (kautuka), and time/energy sinks (atinidrā, atisevā). The list functions as a schematic taxonomy rather than a detailed psychological theory.
The compound-like pairing and enumeration (e.g., kāma-krodhau; svādu-śṛṅgāra-kautuke) is characteristic of aphoristic Sanskrit style, compressing categories into a memorable mnemonic list. Terms such as śṛṅgāra and kautuka also carry aesthetic and social connotations in classical literature, indicating that the verse targets not only overt vices but also culturally valued pleasures when they are construed as academically distracting.