Shloka 14
Qualities of the Wise — Chanakya Niti
एकेनापि सुवृक्षेण पुष्पितेन सुगन्धिना ।
वासितं तद्वनं सर्वं सुपुत्रेण कुलं यथा ॥
ekenāpi suvṛkṣeṇa puṣpitena sugandhinā |
vāsitaṃ tad vanaṃ sarvaṃ suputreṇa kulaṃ yathā ||
Even one excellent tree—flowering and fragrant—can perfume an entire forest; likewise, one worthy son brings honor to the whole lineage.
FAQs
In the broader nītiśāstra milieu, such verses function as didactic aphorisms that reflect elite social values in premodern South Asia, where household reputation and lineage continuity were treated as key markers of status. The imagery aligns with a common literary strategy: using natural metaphors to articulate social ideals about merit and collective honor.
If the topic is 'family reputation' (kula-yaśas), the verse frames it as something that can be amplified by a single exemplary individual. The comparison suggests a model in which individual qualities (excellence, fragrance) are imagined as diffusing outward to shape collective perception of the group.
The construction 'ekenāpi' foregrounds the potency of a single agent, while 'vāsitaṃ... sarvaṃ' emphasizes total diffusion ('the whole is scented'). The metaphor draws on sensory language (fragrance) to represent intangible social effects (repute/distinction), a recurrent trope in Sanskrit didactic and kāvya traditions.