Shloka 8
Family and Relationships — Chanakya Niti
अभ्यासाद्धार्यते विद्या कुलं शीलेन धार्यते ।
गुणेन ज्ञायते त्वार्यः कोपो नेत्रेण गम्यते ॥
abhyāsāddhāryate vidyā kulaṃ śīlena dhāryate |
guṇena jñāyate tvāryaḥ kopo netreṇa gamyate ||
Knowledge is sustained by practice; a family line is sustained by conduct. The noble are known by virtue; anger is read in the eyes.
FAQs
In the broader Nīti-śāstra tradition associated with courtly and administrative culture, such verses function as compact observations about reputation, education, and social evaluation. The emphasis on practice (abhyāsa), conduct (śīla), and visible signs (such as the eyes) reflects a milieu where personal standing and trustworthiness were often assessed through habitual behavior and outward markers in elite and bureaucratic settings.
The verse presents a descriptive criterion: ārya (a term often denoting a respectable or ‘noble’ person in classical usage) is said to be recognized through guṇa (virtues/qualities), shifting emphasis away from mere birth-status toward observable qualities, while still acknowledging the social importance of kula (lineage) as something maintained by śīla (conduct).
The construction uses parallel passive forms (dhāryate, jñāyate, gamyate) to frame each claim as an impersonal maxim. “Anger is inferred from the eyes” employs netra as a culturally legible site of affect, aligning with wider Sanskrit literary and medical-discursive tendencies to treat the eyes and gaze as indicators of inner states.