Shloka 10
Virtuous Company — Chanakya Niti
पुत्राश्च विविधैः शीलैर्नियोज्याः सततं बुधैः ।
नीतिज्ञाः शीलसम्पन्ना भवन्ति कुलपूजिताः ॥
putrāś ca vividhaiḥ śīlair niyojyāḥ satataṁ budhaiḥ |
nītijñāḥ śīlasampannā bhavanti kulapūjitāḥ ||
The wise should continually guide their sons toward many forms of good conduct. Those who know nīti and are rich in character are honored within their lineage.
FAQs
In the broader Nītiśāstra milieu, such verses reflect elite pedagogical ideals in which household and scholarly authorities are portrayed as shaping the conduct (śīla) and practical wisdom (nīti-jñāna) of male heirs, linking personal discipline to familial reputation (kula) within stratified social settings of early and medieval South Asia.
Here, nīti is framed through the compound नीतिज्ञ (nītijña), indicating familiarity with norms of prudent conduct and practical governance-oriented reasoning; the verse pairs this with śīla (character), suggesting a composite ideal of technical prudence and moral-social comportment as a marker of honor in the lineage.
The construction ‘विविधैः शीलैः’ (vividhaiḥ śīlaiḥ) emphasizes plurality in cultivated dispositions rather than a single virtue, while ‘कुलपूजिताः’ (kulapūjitāḥ) encodes a social metaphor of “worship/esteem” directed toward individuals whose learning and comportment elevate family standing; the passive gerundive ‘नियोज्याः’ (niyojyāḥ) presents social training as an expected institutional practice.