Good People and Bad People

Thursday

There is just one difference between people who are good and those who are not. The thoughts, words and deeds of the bad do not match one another. The thoughts, words and deeds of the good people are all identical.

manasyEkam vachasyEkam karmaNyEkam dhurAthmanAm |
manasyEkam vachasyEkam karmaNyEkam mahAthmanAm ||

मनस्येकं वचस्येकं कर्मण्येकं दुरात्मनाम् |
मनस्येकं वचस्येकं कर्मण्येकं महात्मनाम् ||

Good Speech – A Hint from the ‘Panchatantra’

Monday

Some people speak words of wisdom, simply repeating the same like parrots; some others are inherently wise, but do not express themselves; there are a few whose speech sparkles, the wise words flowing eloquently from their hearts.

[Note: This quotation is from Vishnu Sharma's 'Panchatantra', an ancient Indian classic on the art of winning friends and influencing people.]

एकेषां वाचि शुकवदन्येषां हृदि मूकवत् |
हृदिवाचि तथान्येषां वल्गु वल्गन्ति सूक्तयः ||

EkESHAm vAchi shukavadh anyESHAm hrdhi mUkavath |
hrdhivAchi thaTHAnyESHAm valgu valganthi sUkthayaha ||

Advice to Parents

Friday

Indulge a child for the first five years of his life, for the next ten years deal firmly with the child. Once the child is sixteen, treat him as a friend.

lAlayEth pancha varSHANi dasha varSHANi thAdayEth |
prApthE thu SHOdashE varSHE puthram mithravadh AcharEth ||

लालयेत् पञ्च वर्षाणि दश वर्षाणि ताडयेत् |
प्राप्ते तु षोडशे वर्षे पुत्रं मित्रवदाचरेत् ||

A King vs A Scholar

Monday

Scholarship and kingship can never become equal. A king is respected in his kingdom; a scholar is revered everywhere. [From Vishnu Sharma's Panchatantra - 'Mitrasampraptikam' verse 57]

विद्वत्त्वं च नृपत्वं च नैव तुल्यं कदाचन |
स्वदेशे पूज्यते राजा विद्वान् सर्वत्र पूज्यते ||

vidhvaththvam cha nrpathvam cha naiva thulyam kadhAchana |
svadhEshE pUjyathE rAjA vidhvAn sarvathra pUjyathE ||

The Witnesses

Day and night, dusk and dawn, and the Law of Right Conduct are witness to man’s every action.

अहश्च रात्रिश्च उभे च सन्ध्ये धर्मोऽपि जानाति नरस्य वृत्तम् |

ahashcha rAthrishcha ubhE cha sanDHyE DHarmOpi jAnAthi narasya vrththam |

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

Sunday

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.]

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 ||