Maharana Pratap, King of Mewar (Rajasthan), 16th Century
Chapter - 6 of Chanakya's Treatise on Policies for Kings & Ministers
 

Translation:
By listening one comes to know one's dharma (duties), by listening one leaves unwise-ness, by listening one obtains true knowledge, by listening one attains liberation of soul.

Commentary:
[It is easier to grasp & internalize by listening rather than reading. Listening and understanding from a guru is believed to better than reading. Many great men have learned this way. If one cannot read then just listen.]

Translation:
The crow among birds, the dog among animals, the sinner among saints, and the person who speaks ill about others among all are the lowest.

Commentary:
[Avoid taking interest in talking ill about others. It is quite common and is a waste of time.]

Translation:
Kansa (an alloy copper) is cleansed by ash, copper is cleansed by acid, woman is cleansed by menstruation, and river is cleansed by flow.

Commentary:
[After menstruation the woman can conceive. If she has no menstruation then she is infertile. Hence it is said that menstruation cleanses her.]

Translation:
The king who travels is respected, a person of high caste who travels is respected, yogi who travels is respected, and woman who travels is destroyed.

Commentary:
[Destroyed here means she is exploited sexually. This has changed only in modern times - say last 100 years - when means of communication, law & order machinery, and attitudes towards working women have improved to make it safe for women to travel alone.]

Translation:
One who has wealth has friends, one who has wealth has relatives, one who has wealth is respected by people, one who has wealth is thought to be a learned scholar.

Commentary:
[The effect wealth had on people two thousand years ago was the same as what it has today! One wonders whether people change with time].

Translation:
A person's intelligence develops as per his destiny, work or business follows destiny, help & support he receives follows destiny, all actions also follow destiny.

Commentary:
[Destiny is strong. Many times what a man plans to achieve does not materialize in spite of his skills & efforts. Some times, a man's thinking itself takes him to wrong direction - remember the saying that when the time for jackal's death arrives, it runs towards the lion's cave. There are two morals to be learned from this. First is that it takes lot of effort to achieve anything because it amounts to changing destiny. So we need to make Herculean effort for achieving our goals & not be distracted by obstacles. Second is that act without expecting the fruits of action because expected results may not materialize leading to demotivation and abandonment of action.]

Translation:
Time devours & swallows the past, present, & future; time destroys living beings, time is awake when we sleep, no one can cross the boundaries set by time.

Commentary:
[Time is very strong and we should understand its importance and act.]

Translation:
One who is blind from birth can not see anything, one blinded by lust can not see anything, one intoxicated by alcohol can not see anything, and similarly a person blinded by greed sees no faults.

Commentary:
[The lustful man abandons or is not bothered about shame, civility, social norms. Similarly the intoxicated also. The person trying to satisfy his desire due to greed also does not see anything wrong in means he adopts or people he associates with.]

Translation:
Person himself takes actions and himself receives the fruits thereof, himself wanders in the world and himself becomes liberated from the world.

Commentary:
[We are ourselves responsible for what ever happens to us. As we sow by actions so we reap in results. We are free to choose either to take action and liberate our soul from cycle of rebirths or to wander on this earth in the time allotted to us.]

Translation:
The king is responsible for sins committed by public in his kingdom, king's priest for sins committed by the king; husband is responsible for sins committed by his wife, guru or teacher for the sins committed by his disciples or students.

Commentary:
[King, king's priest, husband & teacher should properly guide respectively the public, king, wife & disciple. Former is responsible for the conduct of the latter respectively and would be blamed for any deficiencies.]

Translation:
Father who takes loans to run the household is an enemy, and mother who has a loose moral character is an enemy, beautiful wife is an enemy, son who is not of high intellect is an enemy.

Commentary:
[Why should a beautiful wife be considered an enemy? One possible reason is that if the wife considers herself to be very beautiful she becomes proud and goes away from her duties or can even goes astray. Other reason could be that in those times the law and order was less effective. Other people could try to forcibly take away the beautiful wife of a person - even the kings did it.]

Translation:
Attract & control the greedy by giving money, the egoistic or proud person by folding hands, the fool by requesting nicely, the wise by talking realistically & truth.

Translation:
In a bad king's kingdom where is public happiness, in bad friend's friendship where is delight for the heart, for a bad wife's husband where is domestic happiness, for a bad disciple's teacher where is fame?

Commentary:
[It is better to abandon them: kingdom of bad king, company of a bad friend, marriage with a bad wife, disciple who is not able to quickly grasp the education given.]

Translation:
Learn one good quality from lion, one from heron, four from cock. Crow teaches five good qualities, dog six, and donkey three. (These 20 qualities are elaborated in next four quotes.)

Translation:
The work may be big or it may be small, do that work with your full energy & ability, learn this one from the lion.

Translation:
The learned man controls his sense organs like a heron, and knowing the right place, time and own strength he is able to execute all works.

Commentary:
[The heron stands motionless on one leg till the fish come near thinking there is no danger. Now that the right time has come - the fish are near - the heron attacks and eats them. The moral is not that we should be deceptive. It is as natural for the heron to kill as it is for us to have a good meal. If he doesn't then he can't survive. The moral is to quietly wait for the right time and then act.]

Translation:
Carrying load even when very tired; not seeing seasons of summer & winter; grazing daily with contentment & satisfaction; learn these 3 good qualities from the donkey.

Commentary:
[Man should work hard & not be lazy, make continues efforts rather than occasional or sporadic being distracted by obstacles, and he should go ahead with life with contented mindset rather than a perpetually dissatisfied mindset.]

Translation:
Awakening early in the morning, fighting, making brothers run away, eating their share by pouncing on it, learn these four from cock.

Commentary:
[Once again we have a morality which is against common sense. Why should we drive away our brothers and eat their share by pouncing on it? I do not have an answer except that I personally disagree. May be Chanakya is talking about kingship - where only one brother can be the king - and other ambitious brothers must be driven away to root out the faintest possibility of competition.]

Translation:
Having sexual intercourse in private, saving or collecting from time to time, being alert, never totally trusting anyone, collecting others by making sound, learn these five from the crow.

Commentary:
[Trusting others is an important value in modern times. If someone betrays the trust it can cause an irreparable catastrophe. Betrayal of trust has caused fall of kingdoms, killing of kings. Husband & wives have gone mad and murdered each other; businesses were destroyed - because of betrayal. So blind trust is not the right policy.]

Translation:
Voraciously eating when food is available, being satisfied with little food when only little is available, sleeping well in deep sleep, immediately awakening on danger, loyalty to master, and courage, learn these six from the dog.

Translation:
The person who acquires & follows these 20 qualities will be victorious in all works and in all conditions.

Maharana Pratap, King of Mewar (Rajasthan), 16th Century

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