Chanakya Niti — Governance and Policy, Shloka 9
दूरस्थोऽपि न दूरस्थो यो यस्य मनसि स्थितः ।
यो यस्य हृदये नास्ति समीपस्थोऽपि दूरतः ॥
dūrastho'pi na dūrastho yo yasya manasi sthitaḥ |
yo yasya hṛdaye nāsti samīpastho'pi dūrataḥ ||
جو کسی کے ذہن میں بسا ہو وہ دور ہو کر بھی دور نہیں؛ اور جو کسی کے دل میں نہ ہو وہ قریب ہو کر بھی دور ہی ہے۔
FAQs
In the broader nīti (ethical-political aphorism) tradition associated with Cāṇakya, such couplets function as compact reflections on social bonds relevant to courts, diplomacy, and household life. The historical setting presumes a world of travel, separation, and shifting alliances, where remembrance and loyalty could be framed as forms of “nearness” independent of geography.
Proximity is described as a mental and affective condition: being ‘in the mind’ or ‘in the heart’ serves as the criterion for nearness, while physical adjacency without inner regard is characterized as distance. The verse thus records a conceptual distinction between spatial distance and relational presence.
The verse uses a balanced antithesis (dūra vs. samīpa; manas/hṛdaya vs. physical location) to redefine distance through interior states. The paired constructions (dūrastho’pi… / samīpastho’pi…) create a gnomic, epigrammatic effect typical of Sanskrit subhāṣita-style reasoning, emphasizing that social reality is mediated by cognition (manas) and affect (hṛdaya).