Chanakya NitiWealth and fortune
Chanakya Niti on money, fate and prosperity
Wealth is treated as something to be guarded and used with care. At the same time the maxims warn that neglect (of a field, of money in others' hands) loses it, and that a calm and honest home is where prosperity stays.
The verses
मूर्खा यत्र न पुज्यन्ते धान्यं यत्र सुसञ्चितम् । दाम्पत्ये कलहो नास्ति तत्र श्रीः स्वयमागता
mūrkhā yatra na pujyante dhānyaṃ yatra susañcitam | dāmpatye kalaho nāsti tatra śrīḥ svayamāgatā
In plain words: Where fools are not honoured, grain is stored well and husband and wife do not quarrel, prosperity arrives by itself.
आयुः कर्म च वित्तञ्च विद्या निधनमेव च । पञ्चैतानि हि सृज्यन्ते गर्भस्थस्यैव देहिनः
āyuḥ karma ca vittañca vidyā nidhanameva ca | pañcaitāni hi sṛjyante garbhasthasyaiva dehinaḥ
In plain words: Five things are said to be fixed while a being is still in the womb: lifespan, work, wealth, learning and death. (A statement of fate; the book elsewhere urges effort.)
आलस्योपगता विद्या परहस्तगतं धनम् । अल्पबीजं हतं क्षेत्रं हतं सैन्यमनायकम्
ālasyopagatā vidyā parahastagataṃ dhanam | alpabījaṃ hataṃ kṣetraṃ hataṃ sainyamanāyakam
In plain words: Neglected learning, money in another's hands, a field with too little seed and an army without a leader are as good as lost.
The Sanskrit is from a volunteer-made online edition and may contain slips; the gists are our own plain summaries, not a translation. Maxims reflect the society and the views of their time, and some verses about women, birth and class are not views we share; we show the text as it is and do not comment on those verses.