Shloka 16
Family and Relationships — Chanakya Niti
वृथा वृष्टिः समुद्रेषु वृथा तृप्तस्य भोजनम् ।
वृथा दानं समर्थस्य वृथा दीपो दिवापि च ॥
vṛthā vṛṣṭiḥ samudreṣu vṛthā tṛptasya bhojanam |
vṛthā dānaṃ samarthasya vṛthā dīpo divāpi ca ||
Rain upon the ocean is futile; food for one already full is futile; a gift to one already self-sufficient is futile; and a lamp, even in daytime, is futile.
FAQs
In the Nīti-śāstra tradition, such verses function as compact evaluative statements about effectiveness and appropriate allocation of resources. Within the social and political structures of early South Asian polities—where patronage, charity, and provisioning were visible instruments of governance and reputation—the imagery frames a historical ideal that actions were expected to be calibrated to need and circumstance rather than performed as empty display.
Futility is presented through analogies of misdirected surplus: adding rain to an already vast ocean, providing food to someone already full, giving to someone already 'samartha' (able or self-sufficient), and using a lamp where daylight already provides illumination. The verse thus characterizes futility as an action whose intended effect is already achieved or rendered redundant by existing conditions.
The repeated use of वृथा (vṛthā, 'in vain') creates an anaphoric structure that reinforces the theme of redundancy. Metaphorically, the sequence moves from cosmic/natural scale (ocean and rain) to social/economic scale (food and donation) and then to quotidian technology (lamp and day), producing a graded set of examples that a historical audience could readily recognize as instances of ineffective or unnecessary expenditure.