Shloka 3
Virtue and Vice — Chanakya Niti
यो मोहान्मन्यते मूढो रक्तेयं मयि कामिनी ।
स तस्या वशगो भूत्वा नृत्येत् क्रीडाशकुन्तवत् ॥
yo mohān manyate mūḍho rakteyaṃ mayi kāminī |
sa tasyā vaśago bhūtvā nṛtyet krīḍā-śakuntavat ||
The fool, deluded by infatuation, thinks, “This lustful woman is devoted to me.” Once under her sway, he will dance like a play-bird made to move at another’s cue.
FAQs
In the Chanakya Niti tradition, such verses commonly function as aphoristic cautions within a broader pre-modern discourse on self-control (indriya-nigraha), attachment, and vulnerability to manipulation. The social setting presupposes householding and courtly milieus where desire and patronage were treated as factors affecting judgment and stability.
The verse frames the concern as moha (delusion) leading to a mistaken belief in exclusive affection (raktā—‘attached’) and resulting in vaśatā (being under another’s control). The emphasis is on impaired discernment and loss of agency rather than on a systematic theory of relationships.
The simile krīḍā-śakuntavat (‘like a play-bird’) evokes an animal kept for entertainment and trained to move on cue, underscoring performative, externally directed behavior. Lexically, vaśaga (‘under control’) is a standard nīti register term for subjugation, and mohāt highlights a moral-psychological cause (delusion) rather than a legal or ritual category.