Shloka 19

Human Nature — Chanakya Niti

Devanagari script

सन्तोषस्त्रिषुकर्तव्य: स्वदारेभोजनेधने ||

त्रिषुचैवन कर्तव्योऽध्ययनेजपदानयोः ॥

Transliteration

santoṣas triṣu kartavyaḥ svadāre bhojane dhane |

triṣu caiva na kartavyo ’dhyayane japa-dānayoḥ ||

Translation

Be content in three: your own spouse, your food, and your wealth. But be not content in three: study, recitation, and giving.

Word by Word

सन्तोषःcontentment

त्रिषुin three (matters)

कर्तव्यःshould be done/ought to be practiced

स्वदारेin one’s own wife

भोजनेin food/eating

धनेin wealth

त्रिषुin three (other matters)

चand

एवindeed

नnot

कर्तव्यःshould be done

अध्ययनेin study

जपin recitation (of mantra)

दानयोःand in giving/charity (in the pair: japa & dāna)

Speaker

Chanakya (Kautilya)

Meter

अनुष्टुप्

FAQs

What is the historical context of this verse?

Within the nīti-śāstra milieu, such verses are commonly situated in didactic compilations addressing the conduct of householders and officials. The triadic structure reflects a mnemonic style typical of aphoristic Sanskrit ethics, often aligning domestic restraint (food, wealth, marital fidelity) with the valorization of continual cultivation (learning, ritual practice, and public generosity) in premodern social and political life.

How does the text define contentment in this specific verse?

Contentment (santoṣa) is framed as context-dependent rather than universally praised: it is associated with limiting desire or seeking sufficiency in domestic-material domains, while it is framed as undesirable in domains construed as indefinitely perfectible—education (adhyayana), devotional/ritual repetition (japa), and giving (dāna).

What is the linguistic or metaphorical significance of this shloka?

The verse employs parallel triads (triṣu... / triṣu...) and repeated predicate phrasing (kartavyaḥ / na kartavyaḥ), a common rhetorical device in Sanskrit gnomic literature for contrastive categorization. Lexically, svadāra (“one’s own spouse”) is a compact ethical marker in dharma/nīti discourse, while adhyayana–japa–dāna forms a culturally recognizable cluster of practices associated with learning, religio-ritual discipline, and social reciprocity.