Chanakya Sutrani - Skt Text with Hindi Translation & Commentary

Next to the heros of the Puranas, no name is more familiar to Indians than that of Chanakya (4th century BCE) or as he is otherwise known, Kautilya or Visnugupta. Throughout the whole of India, nitis or wise sayings attributed to him, are even now taught to students. The very fact that this universal adoration is paid to his memory, shows that Kautilya was in his own days regarded as a master, whose worldly wisdom and foresight gained for him the veneration of his comtemporaries.

This book is a Hindi Translation and commentary on aphorisms of Chanakya by Sri Ramavatar Vidyabhaskar. There are 571 aphorisms in six chapters.

Chanakya begins the text with a prayer to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Usually Sanskrit texts begin with "Mangalacharanam" - a prayer to Guru, Ganesa or ones Ishta Devata for the auspicious completion of the book. We can see that Chanakya does not conform to this tradition. The first sutra, is perhaps, an explanation why he directed his prayer to Lakshmi. It says, "Wealth is the root cause of Dharma (Righteousness). The last sutra says, "Control of senses is the cause for success in all matters". Thus, through his aphorisms, Chanakya teaches that a country can progress only imbibing values such as righteousness and self-control and by acquisition of wealth through good governance.

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Chanakya Niti Malayalam - ചാണക്യനീതി അര്‍ത്ഥസഹിതം

Complete text and translation of "Chanakya Niti" in Malayalam. This book contains nearly 340 verses on Niti (right conduct) in 17 chapters. Chanakya was an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta, and was the chief architect of his rise to power. Kautilya and Vishnugupta, the names by which the ancient Indian political treatise called the Arthaśāstra identifies its author, are traditionally identified with Chanakya.

Though most of these verses deal with Raja Niti, i.e. how a king should deal with his duty of ruling the kingdom, this book is also useful to common man as Chanakya instructs how a man should conduct is various life situations.

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Vidura Niti - Sanskrit Text with English Translation

Vidura Niti comprises of maxims of Vidura on "right conduct" in the form of a dialogue with King Dhritarashtra. This text, containing more than 500 slokas, is found in chapters 33 to 40 of Udyoga Parva of Maha Bharata of Sage Vyasa.

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Yaksha Prasna Sanskrit Text + English Translation

Yaksha Prasna is an episode taken from Mahabharata. It is a dialogue between Yudhishthira and Yama, the lord of Death who disguises as a Yaksha. In this Yudhishthira gives amazing and enlightening answers to very difficult questions asked by Yama.

During the time when the Pandavas were living in the forest, a deer took away the stick used to make fire from the sage’s home in the forest in its antlers. The saint tried to recover it but could not. He then requested the Pandavas (sons of Pandu) to trace the deer by its hoof marks and recover it. The Pandavas followed the hoof marks of the deer throughout the day and reached deep in the forest. Dharma Puthra the eldest of the Pandavas became very tired and wanted to drink some water before carrying on the chase any further. Sahadeva the youngest brother volunteered to bring the water. He spotted a lake near by. The lake was bare of any living beings except a crane. When Sahadeva tried to drink water from the lake, the crane spoke to him, Oh Sahadeva, the water of this lake is poisonous, if you drink it without answering my questions. Sahadeva did not bother and drank the water from the lake and died. After some time Nakula came in search. And was surprised at seeing the dead Sahadeva. He too decided to drink water and was warned by the crane and he too died on drinking the water. The same thing happened to Arjuna and Bheema. Seeing that all his four brothers are missing, Dharma Puthra came in search. Since he was very thirsty, he too tried to drink the water from the lake. But when the crane warned him, he decided to answer the questions of the crane. Before asking questions, the crane revealed himself as a Yaksha. All the questions asked by the Yaksha were answered by Dharma Puthra to the Yaksha’s satisfaction. Then the Yaksha gave a boon to Dharma Puthra to bring back alive one of his dead brothers. Dharma wanted, Nakula to be made alive. The surprised Yaksha asked him, Oh king, why did you choose Nakula, when you could have chosen Bheema and Arjuna? Dharma Puthra replied, I am alive and so my mother Kunthi has one son. I wanted my other mother Madhri also to have a son alive, The Yaksha was very much pleased and gave life back to all the Pandavas. Given below are the pointed questions asked by the Yaksha and the pithy and very direct replies given by Dharma Puthra. These are a store house of knowledge and termed as Yaksha Prasna (Questions of Yaksha).

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Prasnottara Ratna Malika of Adi Sankaracharya Sanskrit text with English translation

Prasnottara Ratna Malika of Adi Shankara is a collection of 67 verses comprising of questions and answers pertaining to both spiritual and temporal living. This book comprises of the sanskrit verses and their english translation.

Many of the answers are so accurate that we find ourselves transported for a moment into a sublim state of peace and silence. At the same time in some rare cases, the answers to some questions do not seem to be given by a highly enlightened soul like Adi Sankara. It is generally considered that this text was
authored by Adi Sankara though some scholars do not agree with this. We do not know if some of these verses are later interpolations.

However, this text is a boon for seekers of self-realisation.

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