The man who remains a fool
even in advanced age is really a fool, just as the Indra-Varuna fruit does not
become sweet no matter how ripe it might become.
The cuckoos remain silent for
a long time (for several seasons) until they are able to sing sweetly (in the
Spring) so as to give joy to all.
We should not feel pride in
our charity, austerity, valor, scriptural knowledge, modesty and morality for
the world is full of the rarest gems.
Drop the idea that attachment
and love are one thing. They are enemies. It is attachment that destroys all
love.
Wealth, a friend, a wife, and
a kingdom may be regained; but this body when lost may never be acquired again.
Poverty, disease, sorrow,
imprisonment and other evils are the fruits borne by the tree of one’s own
sins.
There are three gems upon
this earth; food, water, and pleasing words — fools (mudhas) consider pieces of
rocks as gems.
As a calf follows its mother
among a thousand cows, so the (good or bad) deeds of a man follow him.
Who realises all the
happiness he desires? Everything is in the hands of God. Therefore one should
learn contentment.
He who forsakes his own
community and joins another perishes as the king who embraces an unrighteous
path.
Generosity, pleasing address,
courage and propriety of conduct are not acquired, but are inbred qualities.
A learned man is honoured by
the people. A learned man commands respect everywhere for his learning. Indeed,
learning is honoured everywhere.
Beauty is spoiled by an
immoral nature; noble birth by bad conduct; learning, without being perfected;
and wealth by not being properly utilised.
Moral excellence is an
ornament for personal beauty; righteous conduct, for high birth; success for
learning; and proper spending for wealth.
Purity of speech, of the
mind, of the senses, and a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires to
rise to the divine platform.
Our bodies are perishable, wealth
is not at all permanent and death is always nearby. Therefore we must
immediately engage in acts of merit.
What good can the scriptures
do to a man who has no sense of his own? Of what use is as mirror to a blind
man?
Those base men who speak of
the secret faults of others destroy themselves like serpents that stray onto
anthills.
Beauty is spoiled by an
immoral nature; noble birth by bad conduct; learning, without being perfected; and
wealth by not being properly utilised.
Low class men desire wealth; middle
class men both wealth and respect; but the noble, honour only; hence honour is
the noble man’s true wealth.
He who has wealth has friends
and relations; he alone survives and is respected as a man.
Accumulated wealth is saved
by spending just as incoming fresh water is saved by letting out stagnant
water.
Swans
live wherever there is water, and leave the place where water dries up; let not
a man act so — and comes and goes as he pleases.
The power of a king lies in
his mighty arms; that of a brahmana in his spiritual knowledge; and that of a
woman in her beauty youth and sweet words.
He who gives up shyness in
monetary dealings, in acquiring knowledge, in eating and in business, becomes
happy.
Time perfects all living
beings as well as kills them; it alone is awake when all others are asleep.
Time is insurmountable.
By means of hearing one
understands dharma, malignity vanishes, knowledge is acquired, and liberation
from material bondage is gained.
The poor wish for wealth;
animals for the faculty of speech; men wish for heaven; and godly persons for
liberation.
Learning is a friend on the
journey; a wife in the house; medicine in sickness; and religious merit is the
only friend after death.
The learned are envied by the
foolish; rich men by the poor; chaste women by adulteresses; and beautiful
ladies by ugly ones
A thing may be dreaded as
long as it has not overtaken you, but once it has come upon you, try to get rid
of it without hesitation.
She is a true wife who is
clean (suci), expert, chaste, pleasing to the husband, and truthful.
When one is consumed by the
sorrows of life, three things give him relief: offspring, a wife, and the
company of the Lord’s devotees.
Learning is like a cow of desire.
It, like her, yields in all seasons. Like a mother, it feeds you on your
journey. Therefore learning is a hidden treasure
As
long as your body is healthy and under control and death is distant, try to
save your soul; when death is imminent what can you do?
He who runs away from a
fearful calamity, a foreign invasion, a terrible famine, and the companionship
of wicked men is safe.
Do not keep company with a
fool for as we can see he is a two-legged beast. Like an
unseen thorn he pierces the heart with his sharp words.
At the time of the pralaya (universal
destruction) the oceans are to exceed their limits and seek to change, but a
saintly man never changes.
He who befriends a man whose
conduct is vicious, whose vision impure, and who is notoriously crooked, is
rapidly ruined.
Avoid him who talks sweetly
before you but tries to ruin you behind your back, for he is like a pitcher of
poison with milk on top.
Even if a snake is not
poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.
Never
make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships
will never give you any happiness.
As soon as the fear
approaches near, attack and destroy it.
The earth is supported by the
power of truth; it is the power of truth that makes the sun shine and the winds
blow; indeed all things rest upon truth.
The world’s biggest power is
the youth and beauty of a woman.
Purity of speech, of the
mind, of the senses, and of a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires
to rise to the divine platform.
