Shloka 20
Ethics of Action — Chanakya Niti
विद्वान्प्रशस्यते लोके विद्वान् सर्वत्र पूज्यते ।
विद्यया लभते सर्वं विद्या सर्वत्र पूज्यते ॥
vidvān praśasyate loke vidvān sarvatra pūjyate |
vidyayā labhate sarvaṃ vidyā sarvatra pūjyate ||
The learned are praised in the world and honored everywhere. Through learning one gains all; learning is revered in every place.
FAQs
In the broader Nītiśāstra milieu, such statements reflect a social and courtly environment in which learned specialists (teachers, advisers, scribes, ritual experts) held recognized prestige. The verse can be read as documenting an ideological linkage between knowledge, reputation, and access to resources within elite and public spheres in premodern South Asia.
The verse employs vidyā as an expansive category—learning/knowledge as a general form of cultural capital—rather than a narrowly technical discipline. It is framed as instrumentally effective (“by learning one obtains everything”) and socially validated (“honored everywhere”), indicating both practical and reputational dimensions.
The composition uses parallelism and repetition (vidvān… vidvān…; vidyā… vidyā…) to intensify emphasis and to equate the status of the learned person with the status of learning itself. The passive forms (praśasyate, pūjyate) portray praise and honor as socially conferred outcomes, highlighting collective recognition rather than individual self-assertion.