Shloka 7
Dharma and Wealth — Chanakya Niti
सत्सङ्गाद्भवति हि साधुना खलानां
साधूनां न हि खलसंगतः खलत्वम् ।
आमोदं कुसुमभवं मृदेव धत्ते
मृद्गन्धं नहि कुसुमानि धारयन्ति ॥
satsaṅgād bhavati hi sādhunā khalānāṃ
sādhūnāṃ na hi khalasaṅgataḥ khalatvam |
āmodaṃ kusumabhavaṃ mṛd eva dhatte
mṛdgandhaṃ nahi kusumāni dhārayanti ||
By the company of the virtuous, even the wicked become good; but the virtuous do not become wicked by the company of the wicked. Earth takes on the fragrance of flowers; flowers do not take on the smell of earth.
FAQs
Within the broader Nītiśāstra milieu, such verses are commonly read as compact reflections on social influence and reputation, themes relevant to courtly life, education, and governance in premodern South Asia. The contrast between “sādhu” and “khala” reflects a moral vocabulary used in didactic and political-ethical literature to classify character types rather than to document specific individuals.
The verse presents “association” as a mechanism of moral or behavioral transmission, emphasizing an unequal permeability: it depicts the morally “lower” party as more likely to be improved by proximity to the “higher,” while the “higher” is portrayed as comparatively resistant to degradation through contact with the “lower.”
The metaphor hinges on sensory imagery and directionality of influence: “mṛd” (soil) is said to “bear” (dhatte) the flower-born fragrance, while flowers do not “bear” (dhārayanti) the earthy smell. This pairing functions as an analogy for asymmetrical moral contagion, and the diction (āmoda, gandha) draws on a common Sanskrit trope where scent represents subtle qualities transferred through proximity.