Expansion of Knowledge Leads to Happiness in the World

Wednesday

Knowledge makes you humble; humility gives you character; good character attracts wealth; wealth can be used for doing good deeds. This in turn leads to happiness in the world.

विद्या ददाति विनयं विनयाद्याति पात्रतम् |
पात्रत्वाद् धनमाप्नोति धनाद्धर्म ततः सुखम् ||

vidhyA dhadhAthi vinayam vinayAdhyAthi pAthrathAm |
pathrathvAdh DHanamApnOthi DHanAdhDHarma thathaha sukham ||

We are but Tools in His Hands

Sunday

A dumb person speaks fluently, a lame person crosses mountains – with His grace. To that source of infinite joy, Madhava, I bow down.

मूकं करॊति वाचालं पङ्गुं लङ्घयते गिरिम् |
यत्कृपा तमहं वन्दे परमानन्दमाधवम् ||

mUkam karOthi vAchAlam pangum langhayatE girim |
yathkrpA thamaham vandhE paramAnandhamAdhavam ||

DISGRACE AND DEATH ARE BETTER, SOME TIMES

My friend, it is better to be disgraced by good people than to have as an ornament the association of bad people. Glory comes to him who is trampled underfoot by a gallant horse [in battle] and not to the one seated animatedly on a donkey.

वरं सखे सत्पुरुषापमानितो न नीचसंसर्गगुणैरलङ्कृतः |
वराश्वपादेन हतो विराजते न रासभस्योपरि संस्थितो नरः ||

varam sakhE sathpuruSHApamAnithO na nIchasamsargaguNairalankrthaha |
varAshvapAdhEna hathO virAjathE na rAsabhasyOpari samsTHithO naraha ||

A stranger whose company uplifts you is as good as family

A stranger whose company uplifts you is as good as family. On the other hand, a near and dear one whose company demeans you is no better than a stranger. A disease though it is born in our own body is unpleasant. But a medicine that grows in a forest is beneficial.

परोऽपि हितवान् बन्धु: बन्धुरप्यहित: परः |
अहितो देहजो व्याधिः हितम् आरण्यम् औषधम् ||

parOpi hithavAn banDHuhu banDHurapyahithaha paraha |
ahithO dhEhajO vyADHihi hitham AraNyam auSHaDHam ||

Time is Money

Even with a crore gold coins, you cannot buy even a minute of your life. Should, therefore, even a moment be wasted, can there be a greater calamity?



आयुषः क्षण एकोऽपि |
न लभ्यः स्वर्णकोटिभिः |
स चेत् निरर्थकं नीतः |
का नु हानिस् ततॊऽधिका ||



AyuSHaha kSHaNa EkOpi |
na labhyaha svarNakOtibhihi |
sa chEth nirarTHakam nIthaha |
kA nu hAnis thathODHikA ||

[Slokam and Translation: Courtesy Dr. K.S. Kannan]

Tackling Poverty – A Lesson from Ancient India – Blog Action Day Special

The taxes that he [king Dilipa] collected were all given back to the people, just as the sun draws water from the earth only to give it back, a thousand times over.

प्रजानामॆव भूत्यर्थं स ताभ्यो बलिमग्रहीत् |
सहस्रगुणमुत्स्रष्टुम् आदत्ते हि रसं रविः ||

prajAnAmEva bhUthyarTHam sa thAbhyO balimagrahIth |
sahasraguNamuthsraSHtum AdhaththE hi rasam ravihi ||

[The verse is from Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsha. Dilipa ruled Bharatavarsha – approximately the area that is today India – around 5000 BCE or earlier. If only the governments of the nations of the world would emulate Dilipa, the earth can be free from poverty.]

Grow More Trees?

What is the use of raising children who are neither righteous nor prosperous? It is better to grow a tree by the roadside where people can come and rest.

बहुभिर्बत किं जातैः पुत्रैर्धर्मार्थवर्जितैः |
वरमेकः पथि तरुर्यत्र विश्रमते जनः ||

bahubhirbatha kim jAthaihi puthrairDHarmArTHavarjithaihi |
varamEkaha paTHi tharuryathra vishramathE janaha ||



[This verse is from Upavana Vinoda, a section in Sharngadhara Paddhathi, an encyclopaedia written by Sharngadhara in the thirteenth century.]

Equanimity

The sun grows coppery red as he rises and even as he sets; so too do the wise maintain the same temperament in prosperity and adversity.

उदेति सविता ताम्रः ताम्र एव अस्तमेति च |
संपत्तौ च विपत्तौ च सतां एकैव रूपता ||

udhEthi savithA thAmraha thAmra Eva asthamEthi cha |
sampaththou cha vipaththou cha sathAm Ekaiva rUpathA ||

Hail Thee, O Saraswathi

Due to whose grace poets can see the whole Universe as if it were a gooseberry in the palm of their hands – may She, Goddess Saraswathi, be victorious for ever.

करबदरसदृशमखिलं भुवनतलं यत्प्रसादतः कवयः |
पश्यन्ति सूक्ष्ममतयः सा जयति सरस्वती देवी ||

karabadharasadhrshamakhilam bhuvanathalam yathprasAdhathaha kavayaha |
pashyanthi sUkSHmamathayaha sA jayathi saraswathI dEvI ||

[Invocatory verse of Subandhu's prose work, Vasavadatta]

The Lord’s Promise

O son of Pritha, neither here in this world nor in the next is a sincere person defeated. Such a person, my dear friend, is never on the road of misfortune. [6-40]

[Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita ]

पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते |
न हि कल्याणकृत् कश्चिद्दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति ||

pArTHa naivEha nAmuthra vinAshasthasya vidhyathE |
na hi kalyANakrth kashchidhdhurgathim thAtha gachCHathi ||

Dasharatha: The Choice of the Eternal One

There was a king, friend to the wise, a torment to his enemies, endowed with sacred knowledge, Dasharatha by name, whom, being the best by his virtues, the Eternal One chose as His own father on the pretext of benefiting the world.

आभून् नृपो विबुधसखः परंतपः श्रुतान्वितो दशरथ इत्युदाह्र्तः |
गुणैर्वरं भुवनहितच्छलेन यं सनातनः पितरम् उपागमत्स्वयम् ||

AbhUn nrupO vibhuDHasakhaha paranthapaha shruthAnvithO dhasharaTHa ithyudhAhrthaha |
guNaivaram bhuvanahithachCHalEna yam sanAthanaha pitharam upAgamathsvayam ||

[This is the first verse of Bhattikavyam, also called Ravanavadham. Translation courtesy: Bhatti’s Poem, translated by Oliver Fallon, published by the Clay Sanskrit Library, New York, 2009]

A Neem Leaf A Day ….

To enjoy a diamond-hard constitution for a hundred years and all kinds of wealth and to annihilate that which is undesirable, one must eat the tender shoots of the neem tree.

शतायुर्वज्रदेहाय सर्वसंपत्कराय च |
सर्वानिष्टविनाशाय निम्बकन्दलभक्षणम् ||

shathAyurvajradhEhAya sarvasampathpradhAya cha |
sarvAniSHtavinAshAya nimbakandhalabhakSHaNam ||

Success Assured

Fire is generated when two dry twigs are rubbed together. Water springs forth when the earth is dug. When there is enthusiasm, nothing is impossible to achieve. Once you have begun a task, all efforts [enthusiastically taken] lead to fruition.

काष्ठादग्निर्जायते मथ्यमानाद्भूमिस्तोयं खन्यमाना ददाति |
सोत्साहानां नास्त्यसाध्यं नराणां मार्गारब्धाः सर्वयत्नाः फलन्ति ||

kASHTAdhagnirjAyathE maTHyamAnAdhbhUmisthOyam khanyamAnA dhadhAthi |
sOthsAhAnAm nAsthyasADHyam narANAm mArgArabDHAha sarvayathnAha phalanthi ||

[Last verse of Act I of Bhasa’s play Pratignyayaugandharaayanam]

The Ways of the Wise

Those who study ceaselessly do not run the risk of becoming fools; those who contemplate their actions do not run into danger; a person who keeps his counsel does not get embroiled in a dispute; and one who is vigilant need have no fear.

पठतो नास्ति मूर्खत्वं जपतो नास्ति पातकम् |
मौनिनः कलहो नास्ति न भयं चास्ति जाग्रतः ||

paTathO nAsthi mUrkhathvam japathO nAsthi pAthakam |
mouninaha kalahO nAsthi na bhayam chAsthi jAgrathaha ||

A Noble Mission

It’s not a kingdom I desire, nor paradise nor eternal liberation from the living world. But I do have a desire: to destroy the misery of all living things that are sad.

न त्वहं कामये राज्यं न स्वर्गं नापुनर्भवम् |
कामये दुःखतप्तानां प्राणिनामार्तिनाशनम् ||

na thvaham kAmayE rAjyam na svargam nApunarbhavam |
kAmayE dhuhkhathapthAnAm prANinAmArthinAshanam ||

A Beautiful Couple: Dilipa and his Wife

Like the sight of the star Chitra alongside the moon at the end of winter, there was an elusive beauty that marked the couple: King Dilipa and his queen, who were passing by, dressed flawlessly.

काप्यभिख्या तयॊरासीद् व्रजतॊः शुद्धवॆषयॊः |
हिमनिर्मुक्तयॊर्यॊगॆ चित्राचन्द्रमसॊरिव ||

kApyabhikhyA thayOrAsIdh vrajathOho shudhDHavESHayOho |
himanirmukthayOryOgE chithrAchandhramasOriva ||

[This is the forty-sixth verse in the first chapter of Kalidasa’s poem, Raghuvamsha.]