2023-03-09 08:45:39 by Jayashree
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CĀŅAKYA-RĀJA-NĪTI
of aphorisms and maxims is that attributed to Cāṇakya.
This collection, or better to say collections of maxims
and aphorisms, is known to exist in different forms
and under different titles. It is also one of the richest
and finest collections of the gnomic Sanskrit literature.
In addition to rāja-nīti these collections contain a
primer of principles of morality of high ethical value,
many of which are generally accepted not only in
India, but all over the world. They deal with a variety
of ethical and religious topics, with the worldly wisdom
of Indians, with their savoir-vivre, with intercourse among
men, general reflections on richness and poverty, fate
and human effort, women, as well as with the conduct
and human effort, women, as well as with the conduct
of life of the Indians, with their daily work, daily
sorrows and daily pleasures, not excluding such topics
as eating and drinking. Consequently, the collections
of Cāṇakya aphorisms and maxims, deal with a variety
of topics, included often in a haphazard way, a charac-
teristic feature of all Subhāṣita-samgraha-s. As a rule
stanzas are not connected by any bond of thought;
each stanza is normally complete in itself, although
there are exceptions. Quite often we find a pair of
verses on the same subject, and sometimes several verses
deal with the same subject, such as women, different
kinds of Brāhmaṇa-s, things to be learnt from animals:
the lion, the heron, the cock, the crow, the dog, the
donkey, etc.¹
10. Kressler conducted some studies in this direction (cf.
CKr, pp. 15 sqq.)
of aphorisms and maxims is that attributed to Cāṇakya.
This collection, or better to say collections of maxims
and aphorisms, is known to exist in different forms
and under different titles. It is also one of the richest
and finest collections of the gnomic Sanskrit literature.
In addition to rāja-nīti these collections contain a
primer of principles of morality of high ethical value,
many of which are generally accepted not only in
India, but all over the world. They deal with a variety
of ethical and religious topics, with the worldly wisdom
of Indians, with their savoir-vivre, with intercourse among
men, general reflections on richness and poverty, fate
and human effort, women, as well as with the conduct
and human effort, women, as well as with the conduct
of life of the Indians, with their daily work, daily
sorrows and daily pleasures, not excluding such topics
as eating and drinking. Consequently, the collections
of Cāṇakya aphorisms and maxims, deal with a variety
of topics, included often in a haphazard way, a charac-
teristic feature of all Subhāṣita-samgraha-s. As a rule
stanzas are not connected by any bond of thought;
each stanza is normally complete in itself, although
there are exceptions. Quite often we find a pair of
verses on the same subject, and sometimes several verses
deal with the same subject, such as women, different
kinds of Brāhmaṇa-s, things to be learnt from animals:
the lion, the heron, the cock, the crow, the dog, the
donkey, etc.¹
10. Kressler conducted some studies in this direction (cf.
CKr, pp. 15 sqq.)