Bhartṛharir Nῑtiśatak evaṁ vartamān samaýe er prāsaṅgikatā

There are two structural and thematic divisions of Sanskrit literature - Driśyakāvya and Ṥravyakāvya. Again there are two distinctions of Driśyakāvya - rūpak and uprūpak. And Ṥravyakāvya has three forms - gadyakāvya, padyakāvya and campukāvya. Again, gadyakāvya is divided into two types - Kathā and Ᾱkhyāyikā. On the other hand, there are three types of padyakāvya – Mahākāvya, Khandakāvya and Gῑtikāvya. And Gῑtikāvya (lyric poetry) has forms - Prabandhakāvya and Muktakkāvya (prolonged poetry, each verse is free). And Ṥatakkāvya is called Muktkāvya. Bhartṛhari composed his Nῑtiśatak by adopting the characteristics of this Muktakkāvya (free poetry). It is a seminal text of moral teaching in Sanskrit poetry. Bhartṛhari saw the moral degradation of the then society and composed it in Ṥataśloka. It is named Nῑtiśatak because he wrote the Ṥatśloka of Nῑti. The principles within the verses are applicable to human society. The maxims of Bhartṛhari show us a way to stop can the moral degradation that we see in various societies of the present world. The purpose of the present article is to highlight how if we follow Bhartṛhari`s moral teachings we can be more responsive to the values and ethics that should govern our life and thus become more responsive and compassionate individuals.