November 3rd

Sanskrit Pearl of the day:
अफलानि दुरन्तानि समव्ययफलानि च ।
अशक्यानि च कार्याणि नारभेत विचक्षणः ॥
- सुभाषितरत्नभाण्डागार

Transliteration:
aphalāni durantāni samavyayaphalāni ca ।
aśakyāni ca kāryāṇi nārabheta vicakṣaṇaḥ ॥
- subhāṣitaratnabhāṇḍāgāra

Meaning of the subhAShita:
Skillful people do not begin (these 4 types of) tasks -  (those which) will be fruitless; (those which) end miserably; (those which) expend the same amount (of effort) as the result; (those which) are impossible.

Commentary:

Planning, planning, planning!  Prudent people think ahead of their tasks, deciding whether it is worth investing their effort or not. 

They do not invest time, effort, or energy in a task -

1. that is futile and will yield no result 
2. when they know it would end miserably
3. if the end result was not proportionately rewarding as the effort.  (The task should be more rewarding than the toil itself. )
4. when they know it will not yield an outcome at all!

A little extra time spent to think through the feasibility of any task at the beginning itself is certainly time well spent!

pada vigrahaH:
अफलानि दुरन्तानि सम-व्यय-फलानि च ।
aphalāni durantāni sama-vyaya-phalāni ca ।

अशक्यानि च कार्याणि न आरभेत  विचक्षणः ॥
aśakyāni ca kāryāṇi na ārabheta vicakṣaṇaḥ ॥

Alternate Transliteration:
aphalaani durantaani samavyayaphalaani cha ।
ashakyaani cha kaaryaaNi naarabheta vichakShaNaH ॥
- subhaaShitaratnabhaaNDaagaara

aphalaani durantaani sama-vyaya-phalaani cha ।

ashakyaani cha kaaryaaNi na aarabheta vichakShaNaH ॥