Shloka 7
Ethics of Action — Chanakya Niti
अजीर्णे भेषजं वारि जीर्णे वारि बलप्रदम् ।
भोजने चामृतं वारि भोजनान्ते विषापहम् ॥
ajīrṇe bheṣajaṃ vāri jīrṇe vāri balapradam |
bhojane cāmṛtaṃ vāri bhojanānte viṣāpaham ||
In indigestion, water is medicine; after digestion, water gives strength. With a meal, water is like nectar; at the end of eating, water removes the effect of poison.
FAQs
In the broader Nītiśāstra milieu, aphorisms often incorporate widely circulating ideas from household regimen and classical medical culture. This verse reflects a pre-modern South Asian understanding that everyday substances—here, water—could be classified by timing and bodily state, aligning with dietetic reasoning familiar from Ayurvedic and allied traditions.
The verse frames water as context-dependent: it is labeled “remedy” during indigestion, “strength-giving” after digestion, “nectar-like” when taken with food, and “poison-removing” when taken at the meal’s conclusion. These are descriptive functional labels within a traditional regimen discourse rather than a single fixed property.
The diction relies on evaluative compounds and strong metaphors: amṛta (“nectar/immortality-giving substance”) and viṣa (“poison”) operate as polar terms to mark benefit versus harm. The compound viṣāpaham (“poison-removing”) and balapradam (“strength-giving”) exemplify succinct Sanskrit classification by effect, while the repeated vāri emphasizes a single substance whose meaning shifts by temporal and physiological context.