Chanakya Niti-shastra

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Shri Chanakya Niti-Shastra
Chapter one, verses 5, 6, & 7

1.5: A false friend, an insolent servant, and living with a poisonous serpent in the house are nothing but death.

Commentary: He who lays his trust in a wicked circle of companions is as foolish as that man from Kerala who died after a month in a cage with cobras while trying to get his name into the Guinness Book of World Records. A man is judged by his company, just as a guru is judged by the quality of his disciples, or parents by their offspring. (Chanakya has given us this shloka from Brihaspati Niti-sara {GP 1.108.25}.)

1.6: Money should be saved in case of a future emergency. The wife can be saved by sacrificing money, but ultimately one must save oneself even at the cost of wife and riches.

Commentary: Often a young disciple expresses a desire to sacrifice himself in order to save the entire world, to which the teacher invariably answers that the only way to save others is to save oneself. Unless one has elevated himself to the platform of transcendence above the three modes of Nature, he can do nothing to extricate others trapped by their own desires. Chanakya’s sage advice is to be prepared for any untoward event by protecting family, saved wealth and assets, but by all means save yourself first. Simply making a show of renunciation by taking up the staff and cloth of a sannyasi or the title of Maharaja will not save one from the well of material existence. A man dressed as a king in a well will die in the well. Only he who has climbed out of the well can throw a rope into the well for the benefit of others so trapped. (This verse appears in Garuda Purana 1.109.9.)

1. 7: Put aside some wealth in case of future difficulties. Never ask, “Why should a rich man dread hard times?” If Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune, decides to go elsewhere, even your savings will dwindle.

Commentary: Here Chanakya calls Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, by Her name Chalitaa, or “She who is always moving.” Lakshmi is also sometimes known as Chanchalaa, or “unsteady”, as Chanakya will later write in 5.20. Wealth, which represents Her in this world, never stops moving from one hand to the next. Whenever a clever man becomes rich, others lay schemes for plunder—banks through exorbitant interest rates, governments through constant and excessive taxation, thieves through extortion and common citizens through lawsuits—all conspire to reduce a rich man’s accumulated wealth to zero. The Panchatantra of Vishnusharma laments, “Coming and going, money is nothing but a headache.”

Lakshmi is the wife of Lord Vishnu, and His association alone brings Her happiness. Therefore, the means to keep the Goddess who governs riches pleased is to see that some portion of your wealth is always engaged in the service of Lord Vishnu. There is a modern legend in India about the wealthy Birla family. It is said that three or four generations ago, a grandsire of that family was blessed by a sadhu. Now, this sage told him that his family would remain wealthy for generations provided whatever they earned was used in the service of the Lord. Birla was instructed to “never allow the mason’s trowel to rest.” Today for the sake of public good, the Birla family has constructed many beautiful temples to Lord Vishnu all over India. I have visited several of the magnificent temples constructed by the Birla family including: the Lakshmi-Narayana Mandir in Delhi, the Gita Mandir at Kurukshetra, the Vyenkateshwar Mandir at Hyderabad and the Gita Mandir at Mathura. Neither has the trowel rested, the wealthy Birla family, blessed by Goddess Lakshmi, continues their service to dharma and society.

Wealth and property are ultimately not ours to hoard, so to avoid a miser’s fate in the region of Naraka, where sinful misers are sent, one’s accumulated assets must be engaged for the pleasure and service of the Almighty Vishnu. Then Lakshmiji may condescend to make our home Her address. In this all-too-short spot of our life we will be wise to sing in one voice with the great 19th century Acharya Shrila Bhaktivinode Thakur, who said, “All that I have I tender at Thy lotus feet, O Husband of the Goddess of Fortune.”-End of Pavan’s Commentary in the matter of Chanakya Niti Shastra 1.5, 6 & 7

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