Hanuman – the Destroyer of Demons

Saturday

Wherever Raghava’s praises are sung, there He is ever present, with palms clasped overhead and eyes flooded with tears of joy. Let us meditate on Him – Maruthi – the destroyer of demons.

yathra yathra raghynAthakIrthanam thathra thathra krthamasthakAnjalim |
bASHpavAriparipUrNalOchanam mAruthim namatha rAksasAnthakam ||

यत्र यत्र रघुनामकीर्तनं तत्र कतमस्तकाञ्जलिम् |
बाष्पवारिपरिपूर्णलॊचनं मारुतिं नमत राक्षसान्तकम् ||

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 ||

The Inherent Purity of Language

Tuesday

How can a tongue [or language] be defiled? Like a noble woman, so is language. Only uncouth people talk about their defilement.



सर्वथा व्यवहर्तव्यं कुतॊ ह्यवचनीयता |
यथा स्त्रीणां तथा वाचां साधुत्वॆ दुर्जनॊ जनः ||


sarvaTHA vyavaharthavyam kuthO hyavachanIyathA |
yaTHA sthrINAm thaTHA vAchAm sADHuthvE durjanO janaha||


[Note: This verse is from Bhavabhuti's Sanskrit play, Uttararamacharitham.]

The Witnesses

Monday

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 |

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 ||

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 ||

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 ||

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 ||