Shloka 1
Learning and Knowledge — Chanakya Niti
अर्थनाशं मनस्तापं गृहे दुश्चरितानि च ।
वञ्चनं चापमानं च मतिमान्न प्रकाशयेत् ॥
arthanāśaṃ manastāpaṃ gṛhe duścaritāni ca |
vañcanaṃ cāpamānaṃ ca matimān na prakāśayet ||
A discerning person should not make public: loss of wealth, mental anguish, misdeeds within the household, deception, or humiliation.
FAQs
In the broader nītiśāstra and subhāṣita traditions, such statements are commonly situated in courtly and household settings where reputation, social standing, and political reliability were treated as forms of capital. The verse reflects a premodern social environment in which public disclosure of private misfortune or domestic disorder could be understood as weakening one’s status and alliances.
Discretion is presented as selective non-disclosure: the verse groups economic loss, psychological distress, domestic misconduct, being deceived, and being dishonored as matters that are portrayed as better kept from public circulation, implying a linkage between privacy and the maintenance of social credibility.
The sequence uses compact nominal compounds and accusative objects (arthanāśam, manastāpam, duścaritāni, vañcanam, apamānam) governed by the verb prakāśayet (“make manifest/public”). The term matimān (“possessing judgment”) frames the maxim as an attribute of discernment rather than a ritual or theological command, consistent with the pragmatic register typical of nīti verse.