Shloka 2
Power and Prudence — Chanakya Niti
साधुभ्यस्ते निवर्तन्ते पुत्रमित्राणि बान्धवाः ।
ये च तैः सह गन्तारस्तद्धर्मात्सुकृतं कुलम् ॥
sādhubhyas te nivartante putramitrāṇi bāndhavāḥ |
ye ca taiḥ saha gantāras taddharmāt sukṛtaṃ kulam ||
Through association with the virtuous (sādhu), one’s children, friends, and relatives do not turn away; and those who go along with them share in that dharma. By that dharma, the family line is firmly established through merit.
FAQs
Within the Chanakya-nīti/Nītiśāstra tradition, such verses commonly reflect social ideals of early and medieval Sanskrit ethical literature, where household stability and lineage reputation are linked to association with “sādhu” figures (exemplars of accepted moral conduct). The emphasis aligns with broader South Asian discourses in which dharma is treated as a social-regulatory principle affecting family cohesion and public standing.
In this verse, dharma functions as a socially recognized moral order associated with the “sādhu.” It is presented as a transmissible influence: companions and kin who remain aligned with that dharma are described as contributing to (or being characterized by) “sukṛta,” i.e., meritorious conduct that reflects upon the kula (lineage).
The key construction “साधुभ्यः … निवर्तन्ते” frames virtue as a causal source (“from/through the virtuous…”) producing a reversal or restraint (nivartante). The pair “तद्धर्मात्” and “सुकृतं कुलम्” compresses an ethical-social logic: dharma is treated not only as personal discipline but as a reputational and genealogical attribute of the kula, a common motif in Sanskrit moral aphorisms.