September 27th


Sanskrit Pearl of the day:
यौवनं धनसम्पत्तिः प्रभुत्वमविवेकता ।
एकैकमप्यनर्थाय किमु यत्र चतुष्टयम् ॥

- हितोपदेश

Transliteration:
yauvanaṃ dhanasampattiḥ prabhutvamavivekatā ।
ekaikamapyanarthāya kimu yatra catuṣṭayam ॥
- hitopadeśa

Meaning of the subhAShita:
Youth, money, power, thoughtlessness - each can cause havoc. What can be said when all four converge?!

Commentary:
Youth (adolescence), an abundance of money, authority and imprudence are each disastrous. One can only imagine the plight of those around when the four qualities come together in one person!

Humility, generosity, proper use of power and appropriate intellect are the faculties which lead to shaping a person's character.  If one wants to be well rounded, it can only come through deeply ingrained values. It will not be sufficient if children are only brought up with an abundance of comforts and luxuries. Knowing the worth of the privileges they have will take them much farther than getting their way all the time.

Life is not about possessions, but about passions!

pada vigrahaH:
यौवनं धन-सम्पत्तिः प्रभुत्वम् अविवेकता ।
yauvanaṃ dhana-sampattiḥ prabhutvam avivekatā ।

एक-एकम् अपि अनर्थाय किमु यत्र चतुष्टयम् ॥
eka-ekam api anarthāya kimu yatra catuṣṭayam ॥

Alternate Transliteration:
yauvanaM dhanasampattiH prabhutvamavivekataa ।
ekaikamapyanarthaaya kimu yatra chatuShTayam ॥
- hitopadesha

yauvanaM dhana-sampattiH prabhutvam avivekataa ।
eka-ekam api anarthaaya kimu yatra chatuShTayam ॥

4 comments:

  1. Such a concise statement of the root cause of many a disaster in the history of mankind! Nice translation. Thanks for posting and keep up the good work!

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  2. It should be चतुष्टयम् I believe !

    ReplyDelete