#subhasita

[sanskritpoems]

durjanaḥ sujanī-kartuṃ yatnena api na śakyate |

saṃskāreṇa laśunaṃ kaḥ sugandhī-kariṣyati ||

a scoundrel cannot be made a virtuous person even with effort.

who indeed can make garlic fragrant by processing?

[sanskritpoems]

dṛṣṭaṃ kimapi loke asmin na nirguṇaṃ na nirduṣṭaṃ |

āvṛṇudhvam ataḥ doṣāṇ vivṛṇudhvam guṇān budhāḥ ||

anything that is seen in this world is neither devoid of virtues, nor devoid of faults. therefore, o wise ones, conceal your faults, and accentuate your virtues.

[sanskritpoems]

anārambhaḥ hi kāryāṇam prathamaṃ buddhi-lakṣaṇam |

prārabdhasya anta-gamanam dvitīya-buddhi-lakṣaṇam ||

non-undertaking of tasks is certainly the first characteristic of intelligent people; completing those already started is the second.

this verse should be read in light of bhagavad-gītā verse 14.25.

[sanskritpoems]

itaḥ na kiñcit parataḥ na kiñcit

yataḥ yataḥ yāmi tataḥ na kiñcit |

vicārya paśyāmi jagat na kiñcit

sva-ātma-ava-bodhāt adhikaṃ na kiñcit ||

there is nothing here, there is nothing there. wherever i go, there is nothing. after reflecting, i realize that the world is nothing. there is nothing beyond the perception of one’s own soul.

what do you think this proverb is about?

[sanskritpoems]

kāvya-śāstra-vinodena kālaḥ gacchati dhīmatām |

vyasanena tu mūrkhāṇām nidrayā kalahena vā ||

time flies for intelligent people in the relishing of poetry and science;

but for fools, through drinking, sleeping, and bickering.

[sanskritpoems]

From the Nītiśataka of Bhartṛhari

yāṃ cintayāmi satataṃ mayi sā viraktā

sā api anyam icchati saḥ janaḥ anya-saktaḥ |

asmat kṛte ca pariśuṣyati kācit anyā

dhik tāṃ ca taṃ ca madanaṃ ca imāṃ ca māṃ ca ||

the woman i dwell constantly on is indifferent to me. 

     she desires another man.

     he is devoted to yet another.

     and still yet another woman pines for me.

god damn that woman and that man and cupid and this woman, and me.

*in his critical edition of the nītiśataka, d.d. kosambi categorizes them as extra verses.

[sanskritpoems]

apūrvaḥ kaḥ api koshaḥ ayam vidyate tava bhārati |

vyayataḥ vṛddhim āyāti kṣayam āyāti sañcayāt ||

o devi saraswatī, you have a certain wondrous treasure,

through disbursement, it increases; through hoarding, its stagnates.

[sanskritpoems]

āśā nāma manuṣyāṇām kācit-āścarya-śṛṅkhalā |

yayā baddhāḥ pradhāvanti muktāḥ tiṣṭhanti puṅgavat ||

hope is some kind of wonderful chain of humans,

those bound by it run ahead, those free stand as if lame.