Shloka 5
Dharma and Wealth — Chanakya Niti
येषां श्रीमद्यशोदासुतपदकमले नास्ति भक्तिर्नराणां
येषामाभीरकन्याप्रियगुणकथने नानुरक्ता रसज्ञा ।
येषां श्रीकृष्णलीलाललितरसकथासादरौ नैव कर्णौ
धिक् तान् धिक् तान् धिगेतान् कथयति सततं कीर्तनस्थो मृदंगः ॥
yeṣāṃ śrīmad-yaśodā-suta-pada-kamale nāsti bhaktir narāṇāṃ
yeṣām ābhīra-kanyā-priya-guṇa-kathane nānuraktā rasajñā |
yeṣāṃ śrī-kṛṣṇa-līlā-lalita-rasa-kathā-sādaraū naiva karṇau
dhik tān dhik tān dhig etān kathayati satataṃ kīrtana-stho mṛdaṅgaḥ ||
Those who lack devotion to the lotus-feet of Yaśodā’s son (Kṛṣṇa); those connoisseurs of rasa who are not drawn to the tales of the cowherd maidens’ beloved virtues; and those whose ears do not reverently hear the refined stories of Kṛṣṇa’s līlās—the mṛdaṅga in kīrtana keeps saying again and again: “Shame! Shame!”
FAQs
The imagery (Kṛṣṇa, Yaśodā, gopīs/ābhīra-kanyā, kīrtana, mṛdaṅga) aligns with Vaiṣṇava bhakti milieus, especially those emphasizing Kṛṣṇa-līlā and congregational singing. In the history of 'Cāṇakya-nīti' transmission, many manuscripts and printed collections function as expanding anthologies; verses with strong sectarian devotional coloring are frequently studied as evidence of later accretion and regional or sectarian reception rather than as early Mauryan-era political doctrine.
The verse uses rasajña (“knower of rasa”) not as a technical theorist but as a culturally literate appreciator of refined emotional-aesthetic experience. The lack of anurakti (affective attachment) to guṇa-kathā (narration of beloved qualities) and the lack of sādara-śravaṇa (respectful listening) to līlā-kathā are presented as markers of deficient devotional-aesthetic responsiveness within the poem’s value framework.
A notable device is prosopopoeia: the mṛdaṅga in kīrtana is personified as continually pronouncing 'dhik' (a conventional Sanskrit interjection of reproach). The verse also layers set devotional epithets—'Yaśodā-suta' and 'pada-kamala'—and juxtaposes auditory reception (karṇau) with narrative genres (kathā, guṇa-kathā, līlā-kathā), framing devotion as an aesthetic practice of hearing and relish.