Chanakya Quotes, Status, and Thoughts

A man or a ruler should always take up a task after thoroughly considering its consequences. Otherwise fate also cannot protect his wealth.

A person or a ruler who executes his plans (of public welfare) after due consideration, the prosperity stands with him for a longer period.

Swans live wherever there is water, and leave the place where water dries up; let not a man act so - and comes and goes as he pleases.

Task performed by an unintelligent person should not be rated high.

Fate being unfavorable( or without god's grace, even an easy task becomes difficult to accomplish)

O wise man! Give your wealth only to the worthy and never to others. The water of the sea received by the clouds is always sweet.

At the time of the pralaya (universal destruction) the oceans are to exceed their limits and seek to change, but a saintly man never changes.

Save your wealth against future calamity. Do not say, "what fear has a rich man of calamity?" Wealth sometimes vanishes away and large accumulations perish.

The man who remains a fool even in advanced age is really a fool, just as the Indra-Varuna fruit does not become sweet no matter how ripe it might become.

He who is prepared for the future and he who deals cleverly with any situation that may arise are both happy; but the fatalistic man who wholly depends on luck is ruined.

Considersing the forebearance of a person, Do not harass him.

Do not put your trust in rivers, men who carry weapons, beasts with claws or horns, women, and members of a royal family.

Our bodies are perishable, wealth is not at all permanent and death is always nearby. Therefore we must immediately engage in acts of merit.

A low-minded person should not be given good advice.

The poor wish for wealth; animals for the faculty of speech; men wish for heaven; and godly persons for liberation.

There are three gems upon this earth; food, water, and pleasing words - fools (mudhas) consider pieces of rocks as gems.

What good can the scriptures do to a man who has no sense of his own? Of what use is as mirror to a blind man?

A debt should be paid off till the last penny; An enemy should be destroyed without a trace

As long as your body is healthy and under control and death is distant, try to save your soul; when death is immanent what can you do?

Women have hunger two-fold, shyness four-fold, daring six-fold, and lust eight-fold as compared to men.

One's weakness should not ever be revealed.

A wise man should marry a virgin of a respectable family even if she is deformed. He should not marry one of a low-class family, through beauty. Marriage in a family of equal status is preferable.

Enemies strike at weak points.

Sinfully acquired wealth may remain for ten years; in the eleventh year it disappears with even the original stock.

He who runs away from a fearful calamity, a foreign invasion, a terrible famine, and the companionship of wicked men is safe.

We should always speak what would please the man of whom we expect a favour,like the hunter who sings sweetly when he desires to shoot a deer.

The low minded are fond of deception the nature of low-minded people never changes.

When one is consumed by the sorrows of life, three things give him relief: offspring, a wife, and the company of the Lord's devotees.

A thing may be dreaded as long as it has not overtaken you.

The forest fire burns even tree like sandalwood.

Brass is polished by ashes; copper is cleaned by tamarind; a woman, by her menses; and a river by its flow.

Charity puts and end to poverty; righteous conduct to misery; discretion to ignorance; and scrutiny to fear.

My dear child, if you desire to be free from the cycle of birth and death, then abandon the objects of sense gratification as poison. Drink instead the nectar of forbearance, upright conduct, mercy, cleanliness and truth.

Even a captured enemy is not to be trusted.

The learned are envied by the foolish; rich men by the poor; chaste women by adulteresses; and beautiful ladies by ugly ones.

Fire, even if put on head, burns only.

Wicked ones are like fire. Even if pu on hea, they burn only. They do not leave unhurt even their well - wishers and benefactors.

It is narual for enemy to attack on the weaker side of the adversary.

The disgrace of one's people brings sorrow to the Nobel minded.

He who shall practice these twenty virtues shall become invincible in all his undertakings.

For the moon though one, dispels the darkness, which the stars, though numerous, do not.

The cuckoos remain silent for a long time (for several seasons) until they are able to sing sweetly (in the Spring) so as to give joy to all.

All the creatures are pleased by loving words; and therefore we should address words that are pleasing to all, for there is no lack of sweet words.

No amount of advice change his attitude. He does not listed to good advice. Rather he gets angry.

As a calf follows its mother among a thousand cows, so the (good or bad) deeds of a man follow him.

As water collected in a tank gets pure by filtration, so accumulated wealth is preserved by being employed in charity.

A father who is a chronic debtor, an adulterous mother, a beautiful wife, and an unlearned son are enemies in one's own home.

He who befriends a man whose conduct is vicious, whose vision impure, and who is notoriously crooked, is rapidly ruined.

An enemy should be struck at his weak point.

If one has a good disposition, what other virtue is needed? If a man has fame, what is the value of other ornamentation?

Moral excellence is an ornament for personal beauty; righteous conduct, for high birth; success for learning; and proper spending for wealth.

No one should ever be disrespected.

Good behavior wins even an enemy.

A single son endowed with good qualities is far better than a hundred devoid of them.

It is better to be without a king than [to have] a bad one.

He who has wealth has friends.

It is the mind of man alone that is the cause of his bondage or freedom.

The enemy’s enemy is a friend.

I consider almighty god above all so only I always propagate his true message of Vedas.

A man is born alone and dies alone, and he experiences the good and bad consequences of his karma alone, and he goes alone to hell or the Supreme abode.

There are only two ways of dealing with evil persons or thorns. Crush them under your boot or stay far away from them.

Never reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise council keep it secret being determined to carry it into execution.

The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all directions.

The world’s biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman.

Learn from the mistakes of others, You can’t afford to make them all on your own.

A learned man is honored by the people. A learned man commands respect everywhere for his learning. Indeed, learning is honored everywhere.

We should not fret for what is past, nor should we be anxious about the future; men of discernment deal only with the present moment.

A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first.

A man is great by deeds, not by birth.

As long as your body is healthy and under control and death is distant, try to save your soul, when death is imminent what can you do?

There are three gems upon this earth, food, water, and pleasing words — fools consider pieces of rocks as gems.

Drop the idea that attachment and love are one thing. They are enemies. It is the attachment that destroys all love.

Wealth, a friend, a wife, and a kingdom may be regained, but this body when lost may never be acquired again.

The earth is supported by the power of truth, it is the power of truth that makes the sunshine and the winds blow, indeed all things rest upon truth.

Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth.

The one excellent thing that can be learned from a lion is that whatever a man intends doing should be done by him with a whole-hearted and strenuous effort.

The wise man should restrain his senses like the crane and accomplish his purpose with due knowledge of his place, time and ability.

It is better to die than preserve life by incurring disgrace. The loss of life only pain a moment, but disgrace every day of one’s life.

One destitute of wealth is not destitute, he is indeed rich, but the man devoid of learning is destitute in every way.

The happiness and peace attained by those satisfied by the nectar of spiritual tranquility are not attained by greedy persons restlessly moving here and there.

The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind but the goodness of a person spreads in all directions.

He who is overly attached to his family members experiences fear and sorrow, for the root of all grief is the attachment. Thus one should discard attachment to be happy.

As compared to males the females eat twice the amount of food, possess cleverness four times, display courage six times and exhibit lustful desires eight times.

Those base men who speak of the secret faults of others destroy themselves like serpents that stray onto ant hills.

Accumulated wealth is saved by spending just as incoming fresh water is saved by letting out stagnant water.

Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.

There is no austerity equal to a balanced mind, and there is no happiness equal to contentment; there is no disease like covetousness and no virtue like mercy.

Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown-up children are your best friends.

Once you start working on something, don’t be afraid of failure and don’t abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest.

The king shall lose no time when the opportunity waited for arrives.

As a single withered tree, if set aflame, causes a whole forest to burn, so does a rascal son destroy a whole family.

One whose knowledge is confined to books and whose wealth is in the possession of others can use neither knowledge nor wealth when the need for them arises.

We return evil for evil, in which there is no sin, for it is necessary to pay a wicked man in his own coin.

Avoid him who talks sweetly before you but tries to ruin you behind your back, for he is like a pitcher full of poison with milk on top.

The life of an uneducated man is as useless as the tail of a dog which neither covers its rear end nor protects it from the bites of insects.

Test a servant while in the discharge of his duty, a relative in difficulty, a friend in adversity, and a wife in misfortune.

Charity puts an end to poverty; righteous conduct to misery; discretion to ignorance; and scrutiny to fear.

Purity of speech, of the mind, of the senses, and of a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires to rise to the divine platform.

He who lives in our mind is near though he may actually be far away; but he who is not in our heart is far though he may really be nearby.

The earth is supported by the power of truth;it is the power of truth that makes the sun shine and the winds blow; indeed all things rest upon truth.

The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction.

The biggest guru-mantra is: never share your secrets with anybody. It will destroy you.

The happiness and peace attained by those satisfied by the nectar of spiritual tranquillity is not attained by greedy persons restlessly moving here and there.

He who lives in our mind is near though he may actually be far away;but he who is not in our heart is far though he may really be nearby.

There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth.