Shri Chanakya Niti Shastra

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With Commentary by Patita Pavana Das Adhikary
(Note: Verses 1 and 2 have appeared with Commentary in Pavan’s Press 2 and 3)

Chapter One, verses Three and Four:

3. For the sake of the general well being of society, I shall speak that which, when understood, will lead to a knowledge of all things in their proper perspective.

Commentary: Herewith the wise Chanakya reveals the first qualification by which a man might become knowledgeable amongst other men: he must understand all things “in their proper perspective.” True knowledge is sublime, broad and even, never top-heavy or cumbersome. Chanakya asserts sarva-jnatva prapadyate: he promises that his instructions will “make one all-knowing.” He also shares his compassionate motives for penning his Niti-shastra with the words lokanam hitakamyaya: “to give benefit to the entire world.” Chanakya did not scribe his Niti-shastra to see his name in print. As a renounced and threadbare brahmana, the great Chanakya had no desire for fame or riches; his goal was to uplift and guide society. That is why the ambitious and powerful King Chandragupta Maurya respectfully sat at the feet of him who was without ambition. The spiritual jewels of eternal wisdom are far greater than the baubles of the rich and powerful, while the power of renunciation exceeds the strength of armies.

4. Even a learned pandit suffers by instructing a foolish disciple, by maintaining a wicked wife and by association with the wretched.

Commentary: As Shukracharya says, “Begging and death are better than being a householder with a bad wife.” (SN 3.577) The transmission of knowledge from a genuine spiritual master to a proper student has been illustrated with the following comparison: If a husband is potent and his wife is fertile, then if there is coition, there will be a pregnancy. Similarly, transmission of knowledge is not the sole responsibility of the guru. As Chanakya will also point out in several verses to follow, a disciple must qualify himself through faithful obedience and devotion to the will of his Shri Guru Maharaja. The Manu Samhita advises, “A spiritual master should not wholesale his knowledge unasked, nor even convey his learning to those who ask improperly. It is better to remain as a dumb man and die with his knowledge than for a sage to sow seeds in a saline field.” (MS 2.110-113)

Today it has become fashionable for many rich men and so-called celebrities to keep some self-appointed New Age guru around like a trained, well-groomed dog. Chanakya explains that such relationships will be the cause of grief alone. He who wants to be cheated will obtain his desire when an imposter guru arrives at his door. Was not Ravana clad in the saffron dress of a sadhu when he abducted Sita? Unless both the disciple and guru are genuine, then any pretense of following the dharma of the Vedas will be a farce. In very practical language, this entails full-out self-surrender at the feet of Shrila Prabhupada if you are serious about Krishna consciousness.

In order to become successful in spiritual life or Krishna Consciousness, one must become the genuine disciple of a self-realized spiritual master. My own surrender at the lotus feet of Shrila Prabhupada is a story none too different from that of my Godbrothers and Godsisters. Meeting Shrila Prabhupada may be explained with a simple quote from the lotus lips of Lord Shri Krishna Himself in the Gita: “I am directing the wanderings of all living entities.” By the grace of Him Who forever has been and will always be directing the movements of each one of His uncountable parts and parcels, each one of us Godbrothers and Godsisters was personally delivered to “him who is fearless at the lotus feet of God,” Abhaya Charanaravindadas Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja.

Quite simply put, Krishna brought each one of us by the hand to the shelter of His eternal servant so that we can learn Krishna consciousness. The essence of Chanakya Niti 1.3 and 1.4 is that “seeing everything in its proper perspective” means eschewing the company of the wicked. Since one cannot exist in a void or vacuum, one must therefore consciously make an attempt at obtaining the best association possible, the company of Vaishnavas. In order to view all things in their proper perspective of Krishna consciousness, one requires the good association of those who understand the message of the pure devotee.

Krishna consciousness was the only thing missing from the cacophony of Western materialistic living when Shrila Prabhupada arrived in Boston in 1965. And to this day, throughout the 10,000 years of this “Golden Age of Kali Yuga” inaugurated by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, this essential message of hari-nama sankirtan will continue to spread as emanating from Shrila Prabhupada’s efforts and his “law books for mankind.” Lord Krishna continues to bring searching jivas to the shelter of Prabhupada’s books because as Prabhupada promised, he lives in the teachings he left behind.

As Shrila Prabhupada used to marvel, “There is everything in this world except Krishna consciousness.” His contribution to our world in the Western Hemisphere was himself as the bona-fide spiritual master, who is an ocean of auspiciousness and who has appeared in a genuine sampradaya. As far as my own spiritual master is concerned, Shrila Prabhupada appeared in Calcutta to become the acharya for the holy name in the Western World in the latter half of the Twentieth Century and, acting directly on behalf of his own spiritual master, acted as the hari nama acharya representing the Chaitanya Sampradaya. Of this point there can be no discussion.

Regarding association with the wretched, the great Bhartirhari states in his Niti Shataka, “Man is like a drop of water. A drop of water falling onto a hot stove evaporates. Resting upon the lotus leaf, a droplet glistens in the sun. But if a drop of water enters an oyster under the influence of the Swati star, it becomes a pearl.” (NS 66) Similarly one’s character is influenced by his association. Either he becomes a nobody through association with mindless sense gratifiers. Or he gets his ten minutes of fame through associating with the little demons of the world’s “letter-designated squads of demons” or the world’s little leaders whose whole business is making problems for others and terrorizing smaller nations just to scare the world. But he who cultivates the association of devotees shines eternally like a pearl. This is of course a mere crude example, as Prabhupada called these Vaishnava analogies. But then, again, Moti” was Shrila Prabhupada’s boyhood pet nickname given him by the respectable Matajis of his family, his kayastha community, neighborhood, etc.

Chanakya advises us to choose our friends wisely if we would fulfill our dreams of living in relative happiness. The association of the wicked, druggies, prostitutes, and immoral and other demons has destroyed countless lives. Conversely there is no fellowship as the company of sadhus, sincere devotees of the Lord, by whose association one may drink through the ears the constant repetition of the holy names:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Apparently, the origin of this shloka is Brihaspati Niti-sara, a section of the Garuda Purana (GP 1.108.4). The Brihaspati Niti-sara is a body of instructions spoken by Brihaspati, the priest of the devas, to Lord Indra, King of Swarga, after he defeated an army of demons in battle.

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