Page 23 - Sri Canakya Niti

Preface to the Second Edition

Man’s glory is in common sense,
Dictating him the grace,
That man is made to live and love,
The beauteous heaven’s embrace.

In other words, the real goal of niti, indeed the goal of life, is to realize
one’s eternal position of Krishna consciousness. The Bhagavad Gita
confirms the Thakur’s view in the final line of its last shloka: dhruva

nitir matir mama. The full translation of that verse runs, “(Sanjaya
said) Wherever there is Krishna, the Master of all mystics, and
wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will certainly be
opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality (niti). That is
my opinion.”

Patit Uddharana Das (Patita Pavana Das Adhikary)
Makara Sankranti Day
Pausha Shukla Navami
Lucknow, India (14 January, 1981)

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Cāṇakya Paṇḍita was relatively unknown outside of India until Śrīla
Prabhupāda introduced the world to this master politician. Our fi rst
edition of Śrī Cāṇakya-nīti-śāstra sold out in 1981, but since then
the internet has made that edition the widely read version in English.
Therefore we are hopeful that this updated version with the added

benefit of commentaries, transliterated Sanskrit, cross-references to
other sources in nīti-śāstra and most importantly Śrīla Prabhupāda’s
insight into key verses will cause this second edition to be widely
welcomed. That Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted the members of his
ISKCON to have access to Cāṇakya Paṇḍita’s ślokas is seen in a letter
His Divine Grace wrote to Dayānanda Prabhu in April of 1974 in
which he stated, “As for Cāṇakya-śloka, I think the best thing is if I
translate it myself and send it to you for printing, rather than wait…”

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