Shloka 13
Dharma and Wealth — Chanakya Niti
निमन्त्रोत्सवा विप्रा गावो नवतृणोत्सवाः ।
पत्युत्साहयुता भार्या अहं कृष्णचरणोत्सवः ॥
nimantrotsavā viprā gāvo navatṛṇotsavāḥ |
patyutsāhayutā bhāryā ahaṃ kṛṣṇacaraṇotsavaḥ ||
Brahmins rejoice in invitations; cows rejoice in fresh grass; a wife rejoices in heartening her husband; and I rejoice in devotion to the feet of Kṛṣṇa.
FAQs
The verse reflects a proverb-like style common to Sanskrit nīti texts, which compress social observations into memorable parallels. It presupposes a social landscape in which Brahmins are linked with ritual and patronage networks (hence invitations), agrarian life is foregrounded (cows and fodder), and household roles are described through idealized functions. The final line introduces devotional language centered on Kṛṣṇa, indicating either later devotional reception within the nīti corpus or the coexistence of didactic and bhakti idioms in manuscript transmission.
The verse depicts roles through stereotyped associations rather than analytic definitions: Brahmins are associated with invited occasions, cows with fresh grass, and a wife with supporting a husband’s morale or initiative. These are presented as conventional social characterizations within the text’s moral-anthological style, not as empirical descriptions.
A key device is the repeated compound with उत्सव (utsava, 'festival/occasion'), used metaphorically to mean 'that which one naturally delights in' or 'that which becomes a celebratory occasion.' The compact bahuvrīhi-style compounds (e.g., निमन्त्रोत्सवाः, नवतृणोत्सवाः, कृष्णचरणोत्सवः) produce a rhythmic catalog of parallel identifications, culminating in a devotional self-identification in the first person (अहम्).