Shloka 9
Governance and Policy — Chanakya Niti
दूरस्थोऽपि न दूरस्थो यो यस्य मनसि स्थितः ।
यो यस्य हृदये नास्ति समीपस्थोऽपि दूरतः ॥
dūrastho'pi na dūrastho yo yasya manasi sthitaḥ |
yo yasya hṛdaye nāsti samīpastho'pi dūrataḥ ||
One who dwells in your mind is not distant even when far away; one who is not in your heart is distant even when close by.
FAQs
In the broader nīti (ethical-political aphorism) tradition associated with Cāṇakya, such couplets function as compact reflections on social bonds relevant to courts, diplomacy, and household life. The historical setting presumes a world of travel, separation, and shifting alliances, where remembrance and loyalty could be framed as forms of “nearness” independent of geography.
Proximity is described as a mental and affective condition: being ‘in the mind’ or ‘in the heart’ serves as the criterion for nearness, while physical adjacency without inner regard is characterized as distance. The verse thus records a conceptual distinction between spatial distance and relational presence.
The verse uses a balanced antithesis (dūra vs. samīpa; manas/hṛdaya vs. physical location) to redefine distance through interior states. The paired constructions (dūrastho’pi… / samīpastho’pi…) create a gnomic, epigrammatic effect typical of Sanskrit subhāṣita-style reasoning, emphasizing that social reality is mediated by cognition (manas) and affect (hṛdaya).