Shloka 12
Qualities of the Wise — Chanakya Niti
अतिरूपेण वा सीता अतिगर्वेण रावणः ।
अतिदानाद्बलिर्बद्धो ह्यतिसर्वत्र वर्जयेत् ॥
atirūpeṇa vā sītā atigarveṇa rāvaṇaḥ |
atidānād balir baddho hy ati sarvatra varjayet ||
Sītā suffered through excessive beauty; Rāvaṇa through excessive pride. Bali was bound through excessive giving—therefore, excess should be avoided in all things.
FAQs
Within the Chanakya-nīti/Nīti-sāra tradition, the verse functions as gnomic literature that draws on widely circulated Itihāsa-Purāṇa narratives. By referencing Sītā (Rāmāyaṇa), Rāvaṇa (Rāmāyaṇa), and Bali (commonly linked with the Vāmana/Trivikrama episode in Purāṇic tradition), it situates ethical reflection in familiar cultural memory, a common pedagogical strategy in premodern Sanskrit political-moral discourse.
The verse organizes 'ati' as a cross-domain category: beauty, pride, and generosity are each presented as capable of becoming excessive and thereby entangled with adverse outcomes in narrative exempla. The formulation 'ati sarvatra' frames excess as a generalizable analytical lens rather than limiting it to a single virtue or vice.
Linguistically, the repeated prefix 'ati-' (over-, excessively) creates anaphoric emphasis and a compact causal logic through instrumental/ablative constructions (e.g., atirūpeṇa, atigarveṇa, atidānāt). Metaphorically and intertextually, the verse uses named figures as shorthand for narrative complexes—Sītā for the consequences associated with extraordinary beauty, Rāvaṇa for hubris, and Bali for the binding outcome of extreme liberality—typical of Sanskrit subhāṣita style where proper names operate as condensed moral-historical references.