Chanakya Neeti

[vadapav]

9. He who for one year eats his meals silently (inwardly meditating upon
the Lord's prasadam); attains to the heavenly planets for a thousand
crore of years. ( Note: one crore equals ten million)

[vadapav]

10. The student (brahmacari) should completely renounce the following
eight things -- his lust, anger, greed, desire for sweets, sense of
decorating the body, excessive curiosity, excessive sleep, and excessive
endeavour for bodily maintenance.

[vadapav]

11. ...
12. He alone is a true brahmana (dvija or "twice-born") who is satisfied
with one meal a day, who has the six samskaras (or acts of purification
such as garbhadhana, etc.) performed for him, and who cohabits with
his wife only once in a month on an auspicious day after her menses.

[vadapav]

13. The brahmana who is engrossed in worldly affairs, brings up cows and
is engaged in trade is really called a vaishya.

[vadapav]

15. The brahmana who thwarts the doings of others, who is hypocritical,
selfish, and a deceitful hater, and while speaking mildly cherishes
cruelty in his heart, is called a cat.

[vadapav]

16. The brahmana who destroys a pond, a well, a tank, a garden and a
temple is called a mleccha.

[vadapav]

17. The brahmana who steals the property of the Deities and the spiritual
preceptor, who cohabits with another's wife, and who maintains himself
by eating anything and everything s called a chandala.

[vadapav]

18. The meritorious should give away in charity all that they have in excess



of their needs. By charity only Karna, Bali and King Vikramaditya
survive even today. Just see the plight of the honeybees beating their
legs in despair upon the earth. They are saying to themselves, "Alas!
We neither enjoyed our stored-up honey nor gave it in charity, and now
someone has taken it from us in an instant."

[vadapav]

CHAPTER TWELVE

[vadapav]

 

1.  He is a blessed grhasta (householder) in whose house there is a blissful 

atmosphere, whose sons are talented, whose wife speaks sweetly,

whose wealth is enough to satisfy his desires, who finds pleasure in the

company of his wife, whose servants are obedient, in whose house

hospitality is shown, the auspicious Supreme Lord is worshiped daily,

delicious food and drink is partaken, and who finds joy in the company

of devotees. 

[vadapav]

2.  One who devotedly gives a little to a brahmana who is in distress is

recompensed abundantly. Hence, O Prince, what is given to a good

brahmana is got back not in an equal quantity, but in an infinitely

higher degree. 

[vadapav]

 

 

3.  Those men who are happy in this world, who are generous towards their

relatives, kind to strangers, indifferent to the wicked, loving to the

good, shrewd in their dealings with the base, frank with the learned,

courageous with enemies, humble with elders and stern with the wife. 

[vadapav]

 

4.  O jackal, leave aside the body of that man at once, whose hands have

never given in charity, whose ears have not heard the voice of learning,

whose eyes have not beheld a pure devotee of the Lord, whose feet

have never traversed to holy places, whose belly is filled with things

obtained by crooked practices, and whose head is held high in vanity.

Do not eat it, O jackal, otherwise you will become polluted. 

[vadapav]

6. What fault of spring that the bamboo shoot has no leaves? What fault of
the sun if the owl cannot see during the daytime? Is it the fault of the
clouds if no raindrops fall into the mouth of the chatak bird? Who can
erase what Lord Brahma has inscribed upon our foreheads at the time of
birth?

[vadapav]

7. A wicked man may develop saintly qualities in the company of a
devotee, but a devotee does not become impious in the company of a
wicked person. The earth is scented by a flower that falls upon it, but
the flower does not contact the odour of the earth.