Shloka 20
Dharma and Wealth — Chanakya Niti
नाहारं चिन्तयेत्प्राज्ञो धर्ममेकं हि चिन्तयेत् ।
आहारो हि मनुष्याणां जन्मना सह जायते ॥
nāhāraṃ cintayet prājño dharmam ekaṃ hi cintayet |
āhāro hi manuṣyāṇāṃ janmanā saha jāyate ||
The wise do not dwell on food; they reflect on dharma alone. A human’s sustenance is said to arise together with birth.
FAQs
Within the broader Nīti-śāstra tradition, such statements are commonly framed as aphorisms about the cultivated priorities of an idealized 'wise' figure. The social backdrop presumes a world where ethical order (dharma) is treated as a primary category of reflection, while material needs like food are rhetorically minimized to emphasize moral orientation in elite pedagogical literature.
In this verse, dharma functions as a comprehensive term for normative order—often encompassing duty, law, and moral conduct—presented as the singular object of reflection for the prājña. The formulation does not provide a technical definition, but positions dharma as the higher concern relative to immediate material preoccupation.
The contrast between āhāra (sustenance) and dharma is structured through parallel optatives (cintayet), creating a didactic antithesis. The claim that āhāra 'is born with birth' employs a proverbial, quasi-providential idiom (janmanā saha jāyate), implying that livelihood is assumed to accompany human existence, thereby reinforcing the rhetorical elevation of dharma-focused contemplation.