Shloka 5
Virtuous Company — Chanakya Niti
परोक्षे कार्यहन्तारं प्रत्यक्षे प्रियवादिनम् ।
वर्जयेत्तादृशं मित्रं विषकुम्भं पयोमुखम् ॥
parokṣe kāryahantāraṃ pratyakṣe priyavādinam |
varjayettādṛśaṃ mitraṃ viṣakumbhaṃ payomukham ||
One who ruins your work behind your back yet speaks sweetly to your face—avoid such a “friend”: a pot of poison with a milk-like surface.
FAQs
In the broader nītiśāstra milieu, such verses are commonly situated in courtly and administrative environments where alliances, patronage networks, and factional rivalry were treated as persistent features of political and social life. The shloka reflects a historical preoccupation with duplicity—especially the contrast between private conduct and public speech—within settings where reputation and access to power depended on interpersonal trust.
Duplicity is framed as a discrepancy between parokṣa (unobserved) behavior and pratyakṣa (observed) behavior: the figure harms practical affairs in the absence of scrutiny while maintaining agreeable speech in direct encounters. The emphasis falls on conduct affecting kārya (undertakings/affairs) rather than on doctrinal wrongdoing, presenting deception as an operational risk in relationships.
The compound viṣakumbha (“poison-jar”) paired with payomukha (“milk-faced/milk-mouthed”) uses a surface–substance contrast: an outwardly benign appearance masking a harmful interior. Philologically, payomukha leverages mukha (“face/mouth/opening”) to suggest a deceptively pure ‘front’ (the visible opening or presentation), aligning with the verse’s parokṣa/pratyakṣa opposition.