Sanskrit Pearl of the day:
अन्नदानं महादानं विद्यादानमतः परम् ।
अन्नेन क्षणिका तृप्तिः यावज्जीवञ्च विद्यया ॥
Transliteration:
annadānaṃ mahādānaṃ vidyādānamataḥ param ।
annena kṣaṇikā tṛptiḥ yāvajjīvañca vidyayā ॥
Meaning of the subhAShita:
Giving food to a person is a great deed, but giving vidyā (education) is even better. The satisfaction (obtained) from food is momentary, but that (obtained) from vidyā lasts a lifetime.
Commentary:
This probably was the source for the saying 'Give a man a fish, you feed him once. Teach him to fish and you feed him for life'. Indeed there is great satisfaction in giving. Giving food to the needy is essential, but a better dānaṃ (giving) is the giving of education. Knowledge should be given selflessly, only for the sake of giving knowledge to the other person alone. Nothing should be expected in return.
By sharing, knowledge (vidyā) doesn't end with us but gets carried on to future generations. That's how scriptures were passed down through the generations to us today. If not shared, every generation would have to start with reinventing the wheel and discovering fire. Giving knowledge (vidyādānaṃ) is indeed deemed the greatest of all kinds of giving.
Share the knowledge, spread the knowledge!
pada vigrahaH:
अन्न-दानं महा-दानं विद्या-दानम् अतः परम् ।
anna-dānaṃ mahā-dānaṃ vidyā-dānam ataḥ param ।
अन्नेन क्षणिका तृप्तिः यावत् जीवं च विद्यया ॥
annena kṣaṇikā tṛptiḥ yāvat jīvaṃ ca vidyayā ॥
Alternate Transliteration:
annadaanaM mahaadaanaM vidyaadaanamataH param ।
annena kShaNikaa tRuptiH yaavajjIva~ncha vidyayaa ॥
annena kShaNikaa tRuptiH yaavat jIvaM cha vidyayaa ॥
Excellent endeaver.
ReplyDeleteI'll try to memorize these one a day as you post.
I remember one from my childhood which stayed in my mind forever - is probably a corollary to this Subhashita:
ReplyDeleteVyaye krute vardat eva nityam, vidya dhanam sarva dhana pradhanam!!
Also,
Vidhya dadati vinayam, vinaya dyati paatratam, paatratva dhanam appnothi, dhanaad dharmam, thathaH sukham.
Pardon the mistakes in transliteration :-)
You should add these too when you get a chance...
Anup, that's a nice inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ram for the suggestions. Will post them as we go along.
ReplyDeleteI think the second half of the first line should be विद्यादानम् ततः परम्. That matches the meaning better than विद्या-दानम् अतः परम्.
ReplyDeleteWe can't do that for two reasons!
Deleteततः परम् means - therefore better
अतः परम् means - better than that
The verse is to establish that giving knowledge is 'better than' giving food. ('Hence better' does not match the context)
Second reason, the author has used 'अतः परम्'. We do not have liberty to change the words :).
Hope that helps.
AFAIK ataH is therefore ..
Deleteअतः is used in the connotations of therefore, so, hence, after that, hereafter, moreover, etc. It depends on the context of usage to determine the meaning. This happens with many Sanskrit words. Hope that helps.
Delete