Shloka 15
Virtue and Vice — Chanakya Niti
क्षीयन्ते सर्वदानानि यज्ञहोमबलिक्रियाः ।
न क्षीयते पात्रदानमभयं सर्वदेहिनाम् ॥
kṣīyante sarvadānāni yajñahomabalikriyāḥ |
na kṣīyate pātradānam abhayaṃ sarvadehinām ||
All gifts, and rites such as sacrifice, oblation, and offerings, are liable to be exhausted; but giving to the worthy and granting fearlessness to all embodied beings are said not to diminish.
FAQs
In the broader nītiśāstra tradition, this verse reflects a period in which ritual practices (yajña, homa, bali) and charitable giving (dāna) were discussed alongside social ethics. The contrast between consumable ritual expenditure and enduring ethical acts can be read as part of a long-standing discourse on how resources, merit, and social order were conceptualized in classical Indian intellectual history.
The verse uses 'pātradāna' to denote giving directed toward a 'pātra'—a recipient framed as worthy or fit. In historical usage, 'pātra' often implies suitability based on recognized criteria (learning, conduct, need, or social role), indicating that the tradition distinguished between undifferentiated giving and giving understood as properly placed within a moral-evaluative framework.
The repeated verb-root 'kṣī' (to diminish, be exhausted) establishes a semantic opposition: materially bounded acts (gifts and ritual expenditures) are described as 'kṣīyante,' while 'pātradāna' and 'abhaya' are framed as 'na kṣīyate.' This contrast functions rhetorically to elevate certain ethical categories—especially 'abhaya' (security from fear)—as conceptually non-depleting, suggesting an ideal of moral value not measured by finite material consumption.