Keladi Chennamma, Queen of Keladi (Karnataka), 17th Century
Chapter - 13 of Chanakya's Treatise on Policies for Kings & Ministers
 

Translation:
Person doing radiant deeds does good for himself and others. If he lives even for a moment, it is good. The person whose deeds are opposite creates problems for both self and others and even if he lives for a kalpa (4.32 billion years) also it is useless.

Translation:
Do not mourn over the past, do not worry about the future. Discerning persons act according to present time.

Commentary:
[Live in the present is often repeated in modern times. Modern psychologists agree that many mental illnesses arise from either living in the past or living in the future. These respectively cause regrets and worry. Living in the present, living in here and now, is the key to happiness.]

Translation:
Gods, great men, and father are satisfied by good nature of a person; acquaintances by hospitality, learned men by sweet speech.

Translation:
The character of great people is strange. They consider wealth as equal to straw, but when they get it they bend down, become humble, due to its weight.

Commentary:
[Wealth increases humility rather than pride in great souls.]

Translation:
One fears the person to whom one has affection. Affection is the foundation of unhappiness. Affection is the root cause of all unhappiness, therefore abandon it and live happily.

Commentary:
[If you want to be happy do not get tied into chains or relationships of attachment & affection.]

Translation:
Person who is alert for problems that have not yet occurred and whose mind is sharp; remains happy. Person who banks on his destiny and fate is destroyed.

Commentary:
[The proactive and intelligent person remains happy. Stephen R. Covey's first habit of highly effective people - "Be Proactive" - can be seen as a modern restatement of this ancient verse.]

Translation:
The subjects of the king become like the king. If the king follows virtuous path, the subjects also follow it; if the king is a sinner, the subjects also become sinners; if the king is neutral, the subjects also become neutral.

Translation:
The human being who does not follow his religious & moral duties is like a dead person even though alive. There is no doubt that the dead person who had followed his religious & moral duties will live long.

Commentary:
[Person who has followed his religious & moral duties will live long in the minds of people even though he is dead. Person who has not followed the same is soon forgotten and is as good as dead. Hence we should collect dharma, i.e. performance of religious and moral acts, so that after death people will remember us & our glory will live for long.]

Translation:
There are four aims in life: dharma (performing duties prescribed by religion), artha (earning money & collecting wealth), kama (enjoying sensual pleasures), moksha (actions to achieve freedom from re-birth). If a person did not have even one of these four in life, his birth is meaningless, like the breast hanging from a goat's neck.

Commentary:
[One should lead a balanced life and make efforts to progress in all four aspects of life. The four aims of life are important principle of Hindu philosophy. Balanced life is also the foundation of successful Stress Management as well as Life Management as stated in comments on verse 3.20.]

Translation:
Base person burns intensely like a fire on seeing the glory of others. He does not have the strength to reach that position, therefore he speaks ill of others.

Translation:
Mind engrossed in sensual pleasure creates bondage to the cycle of rebirth. Mind not engrossed in sensual pleasures gives freedom from re-birth. Mind alone is the reason for human being's bondage and freedom from re-birth.

Commentary:
[This is the basic principle of yoga. Bondage in this context means bondage to the cycle of dead and rebirth.]

Translation:
When a person obtains the true knowledge of God, his pride in his body disappears. Then wherever the mind goes, it enters Samadhi.

Commentary:
[Samadhi is the final stage of yoga in which the human being attains enlightenment. More than this is difficult to explain here.]

Translation:
Who has got all the happiness's desired by the mind? Everything is under the control of fate, therefore take shelter in contentment.

Commentary:
[Obtaining happiness is not in your control. It depends on fate or chance or divine powers then why be unhappy?]

Translation:
Like the calf goes to its mother from among thousands of cows, similarly the deeds done, good and bad, follow the doer and give appropriate results.

Commentary:
[Human beings must always do good deeds. If the calf is left among a thousand cows, still the speechless animal will go to its mother only and not to any of the other cow. Similarly whether a person does a good or a bad karma, its result will follow him & he has no option but to receive the result in current or future life. Principle of karma is also a very important part of Hindu philosophy.]

Translation:
Person with wavering mind does not get happiness either in company of people or in forest. When among people, their company burns him because he feels he is unable to achieve the progress on par with others, in forest loneliness burns him.

Translation:
Water is taken out from bottom of the earth by digging with spade, similarly education is taken from guru by rendering service to the guru.

Translation:
A person gets results in this life according to his actions in pervious lives, intelligence also follows actions in previous lives, still the wise person acts after thinking sufficiently.

Translation:
A disciple who does not worship the guru who gave knowledge of one alphabet suffers one hundred births as a dog and then takes birth as a chandal (person in the fourth & lowest caste amongst Hindus).

Commentary:
[God is called "Om" and this is one alphabet. Guru who gives knowledge of this one alphabet means the guru who makes you see God. We should always respect the guru who has taught us something.]

Translation:
At end of yuga (one of the four ages of the world) the Sumeru mountain may move, at end of kalpa (four ages of world totaling to 4.32 billion years) the Seven Seas may move from their respective places; but the saintly person does not sway from his path.

Commentary:
[Great people are always firm and constant in their thought, behavior, & action.]

Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur, Rajasthan

References


[1] Chanakya Neeti, Ashwini Parashar, New Delhi, 1998.
[2] Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, R.S. McGregor (Edited), New Delhi, 1999.
[3] Bhargava's Concise Dictionary of the English Language (Anglo-Hindi Edition), R. C. Pathak (Edited), Varanasi, 1995