Shloka 19
Ethics of Action — Chanakya Niti
किं कुलेन विशालेन विद्याहीनेन देहिनाम् ।
दुष्कुलं चापि विदुषो देवैरपि स पूज्यते ॥
kiṁ kulena viśālena vidyāhīnena dehinām |
duṣkulaṁ cāpi viduṣo devair api sa pūjyate ||
What use is a great lineage to one who lacks learning? Even a man of low birth, if learned, is honored—by the gods themselves.
FAQs
In the broader Nītiśāstra milieu, such verses reflect a recurring tension in early Indian social thought between inherited status (kula) and acquired merit (vidyā). The formulation is consistent with didactic literature that evaluates legitimacy and honor through learning and competence, while also acknowledging the social salience of lineage within stratified polities.
Here, vidyā functions as a marker of cultivated knowledge and disciplined training, serving as a criterion for social esteem that can supersede birth-based prestige. The verse frames vidyā less as a specific curriculum and more as a general cultural capital associated with the learned person (viduṣ).
The contrastive structure (“what use is…?” vs. “even… is honored”) uses kula (lineage) and vidyā (learning) as paired evaluative terms. The phrase “devair api” (“even by the gods”) is a rhetorical intensifier, amplifying the extent of honor attributed to learning beyond ordinary human social recognition.