Shloka 15
Liberation and Truth — Chanakya Niti
परोपकरणं येषां जागर्ति हृदये सताम् ।
नश्यन्ति विपदस्तेषां सम्पदः स्युः पदे पदे ॥
paropakaraṇaṃ yeṣāṃ jāgarti hṛdaye satām |
naśyanti vipadas teṣāṃ sampadaḥ syuḥ pade pade ||
For the virtuous, in whose hearts the impulse to help others stays awake, misfortunes perish and prosperity arises at every step.
FAQs
In the broader Nīti-śāstra tradition, such verses function as compact moral-psychological claims that link personal disposition (e.g., generosity or beneficence) with social outcomes (e.g., reduced adversity and increased success). Within the historical milieu of didactic Sanskrit literature, these statements often reflect ideals of elite conduct and reputational economy, where social support networks and reciprocal obligations could materially affect one’s security and standing.
The verse frames paropakaraṇa as an enduring internal orientation—something that “remains awake” (jāgarti) in the heart—rather than a single discrete act. The wording suggests a stable character trait attributed to satām (“the virtuous”), presented as correlating with the disappearance of vipad (adversity) and the recurring appearance of sampad (prosperity).
The metaphor of wakefulness (jāgarti) locates ethical agency in hṛdaya (“heart”), a common Sanskrit idiom for the seat of intention and disposition. The paired abstractions vipad and sampad form a conventional didactic antithesis (misfortune/prosperity). The phrase pade pade (“step by step,” “at every step”) intensifies the claim through iterative imagery, suggesting repeated or pervasive positive outcomes within the verse’s moral-causal framework.