Monday, August 29, 2011

SANSKRIT QUOTES, PHRASES

Shreemad Bhagwad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 47

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते संगोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥

(Your right is to the duty only, not to the fruits thereof. Do not act for the results of your deeds and never be attached to not doing the duty.)
.....

सन्तोषः परमो लाभः सत्सङ्गः परमा गतिः ।
विचारः परमं ज्ञानं शमो हि परमं सुखम् ॥

(Contentment is the highest gain,
Good Company the highest course,
Enquiry the highest wisdom,
and Peace the highest enjoyment)
.....
अमंत्रमक्षरं नास्ति नास्ति मूलमनौषधम्‌।
अयोग्यः पुरुषो नास्ति योजकस्तत्र दुर्लभः॥

There is no letter which doesn't have charm (which can't be used in mantra), there is no root, which doesn't have medicinal property, there is no person who is absolutely useless. But persons who can identify their utility and put them in proper usage are rare..

.....

लक्ष्मीर्वसति जिह्वाग्रे।
जिह्वाग्रे मित्रबान्धवा:।
जिह्वाग्रे बन्धनं प्राप्तं
जिह्वाग्रे मरणं ध्रुवम्।

(Prosperity resides on the tip of the tongue, friends are found there on it. The tip of your tongue has the capacity to arrest you and verily death resides on it for sure).

Commentary on Sanskrit Quote: We use the facilities provided in our body so casually and in a matter of fact manner, that we are sometimes rudely shocked to see the opposite of what we expect. Man has the ability to make or mar his own future. He succeeds in making it when he uses it cleverly, knowing the limits. When he uses it indiscriminately he reaps the negative results.

There is a Kannada saying "ಊಟ ಬಲ್ಲವನಿಗೆ ರೋಗವಿಲ್ಲ, ಮಾತು ಬಲ್ಲವನಿಗೆ ಜಗಳವಿಲ್ಲ" - which means there is no quarrel on the part of a man who knows his speech and one who knows his limit in meals has no diseases.
There are thousands of successful men who are making a fortune using their speech. We win friends based on our speech. On the negative side of the picture- an acidic and venomous tongue can cause sufficient damage to a person. Men who wag their tongue sometimes land in jail. We have read in newspapers so frequently that a casual and unguarded speech has killed many.
The tongue is like a sword- a sword can kill a human as well as cut a fruit. It is in our hands to use it wisely. A controlled and guarded speech is like Alladin's lamp - a wish-yielding thing
......
जिह्वे प्रमाणं जानीहि भाषणे भोजनेऽपि च।
अत्युक्तिरतिभुक्तिश्च सद्य: प्राणापहारिणी।

(Know your limitations "O, tongue, regarding speech and eating . Garrulousness and gluttony can cause instantaneous death.)
Commentary on Sanskrit Quote: This is a special kind of Subhashita. This is called an 'Anyokti' or a couplet containing a message addressed to someone whom it is not intended. The sensitivity of the poets shown in addressing the messages is really amazing. We have myriad kinds of people and none of them are the same when it comes to categorising them according to their menatal makeup. When it comes to instructing someone, each needs a different kind of approach. If someone needs to be addressed to directly, someone else might just want a slight hint.
This is addressed to a 'Tongue' on the fore. But it is really intended to be conveyed to a person who is both glutton and garrulous. But a sensitive person might feel hurt deeply when told so. Our poets were in a sense, "Masters of Mind."
Most of us don't understand the value of talk, silence and less-speech. Most of the times what we speak is sheer rubbish and useless. The core of our intention would be lost in the jungle of expression. Most of us would be better-off silent.

Both garrulousness and gluttony can assume dangerous proportions so as to cause death. Limit in eating is also a very good habit. Strangely tongue is involved in both. We would do well to keep the limits in both respects. I am amazed at the likeness of the ideas expressed by poets belonging to different times and locations. The same idea is expressed in a Kannada saying " ಊಟ ಬಲ್ಲವನಿಗೆ ರೋಗವಿಲ್ಲ, ಮಾತು ಬಲ್ಲವನಿಗೆ ಜಗಳವಿಲ್ಲ." meaning - One who knows the limit of eating never suffers a disease and he who knows the limits of speech never picks up a quarrel.
.....

विषादप्यमृतं ग्राह्यं अमेध्यादपि काञ्चनम्।
अमित्रादपि सद्वृत्तं स्त्रीरत्नं दुष्कुलादपि॥

(Elixir of life is to be accepted even if comes from poison, a piece of gold is to be accepted even from impure. A good conduct is to be learnt even from an enemy and a good lady is to be accepted even from a bad community).

Commentary on Sanskrit Quote: This couplet teaches us to accept good things in life, even from unexpected quarters. We, due to our negativities picked up from our childhood, categorize things with clear demarcation as good and bad, beautiful and ugly, useful and useless, wanted and unwanted and so forth. Whereas our experience teaches us that we should not make such vertical splits, we are mostly guided by our acquired negativity. Most of the times we never stop to think if we are making the right choices in our life.
It is a known fact that a serpent-venom can kill humans and animals. We also know that anti-venom serum is extracted from the snake venom. Gold is a precious metal, valued since thousands of years throughout the world for its sheen and it ductility and malleability when a bit of copper is mixed with it. Golden ornaments are an inseparable world of women. So when a golden ornament falls in a toilet pit, it is not to be ignored. No one cares where it had fallen, once it is taken from the unclean place. Likewise, we must appreciate a good quality or righteousness found even among those who hate us. Whereas we can, and are, following the first two, are we ready for this? We never accept this precept for its value.
The last one is the acceptance of a virtuous woman without caring for her birth and nobility or otherwise. An indian plagued by the caste system never goes beyond the narrow consideration of marriage alliance within his own caste. We have instances of parents disowning their children, when they married outside the caste, much against the wishes of their parents. But this ancient wisdom is much against such inhuman practice. It has humanised our society to the extent many parents are seeing the futility of demanding that their children marry within their caste and religion. Economic independence coupled with ancient wisdom has really set the stage for reformation. Let us welcome it.
.....
अतिदानाद्बलिर्बद्धो ह्यतिमानात् सुयोधन:।
विनष्टो रावणो लौल्यादति सर्वत्र वर्जयेत्।

(The demon king) Bali was vanquished due to his excessive charitable nature.
King Duryodhana was humbled for his excessive pride.
(Demon Emperor) Ravana was destroyed due to excessive womanising.
Hence one should shun excessiveness in all things.
.....
गते शोको न कर्तव्यो भविष्यं नैव चिंतयेत्।
वर्तमानेन कालेन वर्तयंति विचक्षणाः॥

(One should not regret the past. One should not worry about the future.
Wise men act by the present time.)