Shloka 14
Liberation and Truth — Chanakya Niti
सद्यः प्रज्ञाहरा तुण्डी सद्यः प्रज्ञाकरी वचा ।
सद्यः शक्तिहरा नारी सद्यः शक्तिकरं पयः ॥
sadyaḥ prajñāharā tuṇḍī sadyaḥ prajñākarī vacā |
sadyaḥ śaktiharā nārī sadyaḥ śaktikaraṃ payaḥ ||
Tuṇḍī quickly steals discernment; vacā quickly brings discernment. A woman quickly drains strength; milk quickly builds strength.
FAQs
Within the Chanakya-nīti/Nītiśāstra tradition, such verses commonly compile short, memorable contrasts about conduct, bodily regimen, and social relations. The imagery reflects a premodern milieu in which dietetics, speech ethics, and household life were frequent topics of didactic and courtly instruction, and where generalized statements about social categories circulated as conventional aphorisms.
In this verse, prajñā functions as a broad term for practical discernment or judgment, framed as something that can be diminished or increased by immediate influences. Śakti is presented as bodily vigor or capability, likewise depicted as susceptible to rapid increase or decrease through proximate factors (here, social/sexual association and nourishment).
The verse uses parallelism and antithesis (prajñāharā vs. prajñākarī; śaktiharā vs. śaktikarām) to create a mnemonic structure. The terms tuṇḍī and vacā are lexically ambiguous across Sanskrit traditions—vacā can mean 'speech' and also denotes a medicinal plant in Ayurvedic vocabulary—suggesting layered readings where moral instruction and dietetic/medical commonplaces could overlap in reception history.