Shloka 14
Dharma and Wealth — Chanakya Niti
मातृवत्परदारेषु परद्रव्येषु लोष्ट्रवत् ।
आत्मवत्सर्वभूतेषु यः पश्यति स पण्डितः ॥
mātṛvat paradāreṣu paradravyeṣu loṣṭravat |
ātmavat sarvabhūteṣu yaḥ paśyati sa paṇḍitaḥ ||
A learned person is one who regards another’s spouse as a mother, another’s wealth as a clod of earth, and all beings as one’s own self.
FAQs
In the broader Nītiśāstra tradition associated with Cāṇakya, such verses function as didactic summaries of elite ethical ideals linked to social order and governance. The triad—sexual restraint, non-appropriation of others’ wealth, and empathetic regard for living beings—reflects a historically attested moral vocabulary used in courtly and pedagogical settings to characterize the ‘wise’ person within ancient Indian political and social thought.
Here, the paṇḍita is defined through modes of perception and valuation: (1) others’ spouses are framed through a kinship metaphor (mātṛvat), (2) others’ property is framed as negligible for seizure (loṣṭravat), and (3) all beings are framed through an identification metaphor (ātmavat). The definition is thus behavioral-ethical, presented as a traditional marker of discernment rather than as a technical scholastic credential.
The verse uses three similes marked by -वत् (mātṛ-vat, loṣṭra-vat, ātma-vat) to compress ethical principles into memorable images. ‘Loṣṭra’ (a clod) is a period-typical metaphor for something of no desirability, intensifying the rejection of illicit gain. ‘Mātṛvat’ employs kinship semantics to express social boundary-making around sexuality, while ‘ātmavat’ generalizes ethical regard beyond human community to ‘sarvabhūta’ (all beings), a broad term that can include animals and other living entities in classical Sanskrit usage.