Cāṇakya Rājanītiśāstra
Cāṇakya Rājanītiśāstra (T. tsa na ka'i rgyal po'i lugs kyi bstan bcos ཙ་ན་ཀའི་རྒྱལ་པོའི་ལུགས་ཀྱི་བསྟན་བཅོས).[1] "Cāṇakya’s Treatise on Ethics for Kings". A treatise on ethics by the Indian scholar Cāṇakya.[2] A translation of the treatise is included in the Tengyur, the section of the Tibetan Buddhist canon that contains the translations of Indian treatises.[2]
This text belongs to the genre of Indian literature known as rājanīti (“ethics for kings”). The rājanīti is one of two genres of nīti treatises (nītiśāstra).[2]
According to José Ignacio Cabezón, this text is “as much a compendium of worldly wisdom as it is a treatise on statecraft.”[2]
Cāṇakya’s Treatise on Ethics for Kings, as well as the Treatise on Ethics of Masūrākṣa, were sources for Jamgon Mipam's treatise A Treatise on Ethics for Kings: An Ornament for Rulers.[2]
Quotation
The following two verses from Cāṇakya’s Treatise on Ethics for Kings are from the version preserved in the Tibetan canon:[2]
Someone who helps you is a relative even if he’s a stranger.
Someone who harms you is a stranger even if he’s a relative.
Someone who helps you is a rare medicine.
Someone who harms you is an illness growing in your body. (1.10)
The one who brings you joy is your wife.
The one makes you happy is your son.
The one who is trustworthy is your friend.
The place that nurtures you is your country. (1.12)
José Ignacio Cabezón states:
- On the surface, the verses appear to be descriptive, but in actuality they challenge our ordinary understanding of what constitutes a stranger, a relative, and one’s homeland. They suggest that someone is a true relative or friend according to their deeds—whether they are helpful, bring you joy, are trustworthy, and so forth—and not because they happen to be related to you by blood or through a long acquaintance. Likewise, your true homeland is the one that nurtures and makes you flourish—and implicitly not the one in which you happen to be born.[2]
Notes
- ↑
Cāṇakyarājanītiśāstra, 84000 Collection
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Jamgon Mipham 2017, Appendix 1.
Sources
Jamgon Mipham (2017), The Just King: The Tibetan Buddhist Classic on Leading an Ethical Life, translated by José Ignacio Cabezón, Snow Lion
