Shloka 11
Human Nature — Chanakya Niti
दह्यमानाः सुतीव्रेण नीचाः परयशोऽग्निना
अशक्तास्तत्पदं गन्तुं ततो निन्दां प्रकुर्वते ॥
dahyamānāḥ sutīvreṇa nīcāḥ parayaśo’gninā |
aśaktāstatpadaṃ gantuṃ tato nindāṃ prakurvate ||
The low are fiercely scorched by the “fire” of another’s fame; unable to reach that rank, they resort to slander and disparagement.
FAQs
In the broader nītiśāstra milieu, such statements function as observations about courtly and social competition, where reputation (yaśas) is treated as a scarce form of capital; the verse reflects a tradition that interprets slander as a response to status anxiety within stratified social settings.
The verse frames nindā as arising from inability (aśakti) to attain another’s position (tatpada), with envy or frustration implied through the image of being “burned” by another’s fame.
The compound parayaśo’gninā (“by the fire of another’s fame”) uses agni as a conventional metaphor for inner torment, while tatpada (“that status/position”) compresses a social goal into a single term; together, they present a compact causal chain typical of aphoristic Sanskrit: fame → torment → incapacity → disparagement.