Chanakya Niti — Human Nature, Shloka 15
यथा धेनुसहस्रेषु वत्सो गच्छति मातरम् ।
तथा यच्च कृतं कर्म कर्तारमनुगच्छति ॥
yathā dhenusahasreṣu vatso gacchati mātaram |
tathā yacca kṛtaṃ karma kartāram anugacchati ||
جیسے ہزاروں گایوں میں بچھڑا اپنی ماں تک پہنچ جاتا ہے، ویسے ہی کیا ہوا عمل اپنے کرنے والے کے پیچھے چلتا ہے۔
FAQs
In the broader Nītiśāstra milieu, such verses commonly articulate a theory of moral causation using agrarian imagery familiar to early Indian social life. The comparison to cattle-herding scenes situates the teaching in a world where pastoral observation served as a persuasive register for ethical and political reflection.
The verse frames karma as an action whose consequences are conceptually attached to the agent: the deed is portrayed as tracking its performer. The formulation functions as an account of accountability, expressed in compact proverbial form rather than as a systematic doctrine.
The simile hinges on recognition and inevitability: “dhenusahasreṣu” (among thousands of cows) intensifies the improbability, while “anugacchati” (follows after) conveys pursuit or attachment. The metaphor translates an abstract ethical claim into a concrete pastoral scene, a common didactic strategy in classical Sanskrit gnomic literature.