Shloka 4
Virtue and Vice — Chanakya Niti
कोऽर्थान्प्राप्य न गर्वितो विषयिणः कस्यापदोऽस्तं गताः
स्त्रीभिः कस्य न खण्डितं भुवि मनः को नाम राजप्रियः।
कः कालस्य न गोचरत्वमगमत् कोऽर्थी गतो गौरवं
को वा दुर्जनदुर्गमेषु पतितः क्षेमेण यातः पथि ॥
ko'rthān prāpya na garvito viṣayiṇaḥ kasyāpado'staṃ gatāḥ |
strībhiḥ kasya na khaṇḍitaṃ bhuvi manaḥ ko nāma rājapriyaḥ |
kaḥ kālasya na gocaratvam agamat ko'rthī gato gauravaṃ |
ko vā durjanadurgameṣu patitaḥ kṣemeṇa yātaḥ pathi ||
Who, on gaining wealth, does not grow proud? What pleasure-seeker is free of vanity? Whose misfortunes have ever wholly vanished? On earth, whose mind has not been troubled by women? Who is dear to every king? Who does not fall within time’s reach? What seeker of riches always attains honor? And who, fallen into the hard terrain of the wicked, walks the road in safety?
FAQs
In the Chanakya Niti/Nītiśāstra tradition, such verses function as gnomic observations used in elite education on governance and worldly conduct. The rhetoric reflects a milieu where courtly politics, patronage, and material success were understood as unstable, and where time (kāla) and fortune (āpadaḥ) were common explanatory frames in classical South Asian moral and political discourse.
The verse juxtaposes artha (wealth/resources) with gaurava (honor/dignity) by suggesting that the pursuit of wealth does not reliably yield social esteem. In historical terms, this can be read as an observation about reputational risk and moral ambiguity associated with material acquisition within courtly and civic life.
The composition is structured as a chain of rhetorical questions (ko… kasya… ko nāma…), a common device in Sanskrit subhāṣita-style literature to universalize claims through implied answers. Metaphorically, 'durjanadurgameṣu' (“in the difficult terrain of the wicked”) frames harmful social environments as hazardous geography, reinforcing the verse’s theme of insecurity in political and social relations.