Use God’s Gifts for the Larger Good

Human life, the ability to work hard and the capacity to distinguish between good and bad - if a person who has all these gifts uses them only to seek worldly pleasures, fie on him!  He is but a fool and the lowest of humankind.

(labDHvA sudhurlabhatharam narajanma janthuhu /  thathrApi pauruSHamaTHa sadhasadh vivEkam // samprApya chaihikasukhAbhirathO yadhi syAth DHik thasya janma kumathEhi puruSHADHamasya

लब्ध्वा सुदुर्लभतरं नरजन्म जन्तुः तत्रापि पौरुषमथ सदसद् विवेकम् / संप्राप्य चैहिकसुखाभिरतो यदि स्यात् धिक् तस्य जन्म कुमतेः पुरुषाधमस्य //)

Ignoble Teachers

“Oh, there’s no time!”; “It will become clear to you later” - Can any part of a book ever be difficult for a teacher who has only remarks such as this?

(vAchyathAm samayOthIthaha spaSHtamagrE bhaviSHyathi /  ithi pATayathAm granTHE kATinyam kuthra varthathE

वाच्यतां समयोऽतीतः स्पष्टमग्रे भविष्यति / इति पाठयतां ग्रन्थे काठिन्यं कुत्र वर्तते //)

A Friend in Need?

Says one friend to another: “Hey, chataka, my dear friend, listen to me for a moment.  There are many clouds in the sky, but all of them are not the same.  Some wet the earth with rain, others just thunder purposelessly.  So, do not go around begging every cloud you see for water.” (PS: Sanskrit literature often refers to the chataka, a bird which is believed to survive only on fresh rain drops, catching them in its beak as they drop from the sky)

(rE rE chAthakA sAvaDHAnamanasaA mithrakshaNam shrUyathAm /  ambODHA bahavO santhi gaganE sarvEpi naithAdhrshI /  kEchith vrSHtibhirAdhriyanthi DHaraNIm garjanthi kEchith vrTHA /  yam yam pashyasi thasya thasya purathO mA brUhi dhInam vachaha

रे रे चातक सावधानमनसा मित्र क्षणं श्रूयतां अम्बोधा बहवो सन्ति गगने सर्वेपि नैतादृशी/

केचित् वृष्टिभिराद्रियन्ति धरणीं गर्जन्ति केचित् वृथायं यं पश्यसि तस्य तस्य पुरतो मा ब्रूहि दीनं वचः //) 

Are we All the Same?

A crow is black. So is the cuckoo. What then is the difference between the two? When the two sing to herald the onset of spring, the difference will be known – a crow caws, while a cuckoo sings.

(kAkaha krSHNaha pikaha krSHNaha kO bhEdhaha pikakAkayOho / vasanthakAlE samprApthE kAkaha kAkaha pikaha pikaha

काकः कृष्णः पिकः कृष्णः को भेदः पिककाकयोः /वसन्तकाले संप्रप्ते काकः काकः पिकः पिकः //)

It Pays to Keep Good Company

By associating with virtuous people even an ordinary person gains respect, just as a common thread is worn on the head when it is used to make a garland of flowers.

(guNavadhvasthu samsargAdh yAthi svalpOpi gauravam / puSHpamAlAnuSHangENA sUthram shirasi DHAyathE

गुणवद्वस्तु संसर्गाद् याति स्वल्पोपि गौरवम् /पुष्पमालानुषङ्गेण सूत्रं शिरसि धार्यते //)

The Evening Heralding Krishna’s Birth

The whole world was paying homage to that evening (through Sandhyavandana) which would end with the birth of Sri Krishna. Dusk was decked in a golden dress (like Sri Krishna). By its inherent power it outshone even the brilliance of sun (Just as the sun’s brilliance dims before the Lord’s).   In fact, it appeared as though that evening was a second form of Lord Krishna Himself!  (From Vedanta Desika’s Yadavabhyudayam, Chapter 2) 

(suvarNa pIthAmbara vAsinI sA svaDHAmasanCHAdhithasUryadhIpthihi /  upAsanIya jagathAm babhAsE muradhviSHO mUrhirivadvithIya //

सुवर्णपीताम्बरवासिनी सा स्वधामसञ्छादितसूर्यदीप्तिः /उपासनीया जगतां बभासे मुरद्विषो मूर्तिरिव द्वितीया //)