Shloka 6
Right Conduct — Chanakya Niti
न दुर्जनः साधुदशामुपैति
बहुप्रकारैरपि शिक्ष्यमाणः ।
आमूलसिक्तः पयसा घृतेन
न निम्बवृक्षो मधुरत्वमेति ॥
na durjanaḥ sādhudaśāmupaiti
bahuprakārair api śikṣyamāṇaḥ |
āmūlasiktaḥ payasā ghṛtena
na nimba-vṛkṣo madhuratvam eti ||
A wicked man does not attain the state of the virtuous, though taught in many ways. Like the neem tree: even watered to the roots with milk and ghee, it does not turn sweet.
FAQs
In the broader Chanakya-nīti tradition, such verses function as didactic aphorisms associated with courtly ethics and pragmatic social observation in pre-modern South Asia. The statement reflects a common literary topos: skepticism about the reformability of certain character types, expressed in compact, memorable imagery suitable for oral transmission and pedagogical use.
The verse presents character as relatively stable: the ‘durjana’ is depicted as not reaching ‘sādhu-daśā’ even under extensive instruction. This is framed as an observation about limits of education or training when contrasted with ingrained disposition (svabhāva), a recurrent theme in Sanskrit nīti and subhāṣita literature.
The simile hinges on ‘svabhāva’ (inherent nature) using the neem tree (nimba), culturally associated with bitterness, as an emblem of enduring taste/quality. The hyperbolic image ‘watered at the roots with milk and ghee’ intensifies the point: even exceptionally favorable inputs do not alter an essential property, aligning moral psychology with naturalized botanical metaphor.